Susan Gately
There is a growing concern that young people are just sliding into the sacrament, writes Susan Gately
Wexford-based Fr Paddy Banville attracted publicity recently after calling a public meeting to address the issue of the forthcoming Confirmation ceremony in the parish. When the students enrolled for the Sacrament, Fr Banville, the administrator of the parish “made it abundantly clear” that for Confirmation families, participation in Sunday Eucharist was not optional, but “absolutely essential”.
However since the beginning of the school year in September, “the majority of Confirmation parents and children have been absent from the Sunday Eucharist”, he wrote in the parish newsletter.
Priests the length and breadth of Ireland are conflicted over sacramental preparation, in particular Confirmation. Dr Mary McCaughey a theologian at the Priory Institute in Tallaght, expresses that conflict well. “The Sacrament of Confirmation doesn’t seem to have the effect it should have. It seems to be an exit sacrament rather than a sacrament where they stand up and take responsibility for their faith in public,” she told The Irish Catholic.
Dr Mc Caughey worked at a Catholic girls school in England for a year. There, Confirmation was offered at age 15. Out of a class of around 30 she recalls that only three chose to receive the sacrament. Coming from Ireland, she found that heart-breaking, but on the plus side, those who were confirmed saw the sacrament as a big commitment.
“At 15, 16 they were leaders in their parishes and involved in the diocesan youth service. I was impressed by their maturity and how they were ready to see themselves as young adults in the Church who had the responsibility of leadership.”
However, she would still be reluctant to go the English route. Through the sacrament, a “grace is given” and that needs to be shared. But being 12 today is different to being that age, ten or 20 years ago, she continues. “I’ve heard stories recently about children going into second level, who are bullied to the point of nearly taking their own lives. So if faith is to have any meaning, the gifts of the Holy Spirit must help them navigate the culture they are in. We need to help children connect the gift of Confirmation to the pressures of life that they face from 12 onwards.”
Bishop Fintan Monahan celebrated Confirmation in his diocese for the first time last year, and is now into his second season. “The preparation for and participation in the sacrament is quite satisfactory and worthwhile,” he says.
In his diocese, there is no pressure on any parent or child to “put themselves forward for Confirmation and they are challenged to think seriously about it if they are not practising the faith,” he told The Irish Catholic, but most still do, he added.
“I would favour the position taken by Pope Francis who when questioned about non-practising parents putting their child forward for Baptism – that if there is any possibility of faith – why not cooperate with that!”
Rite of passage
Eileen, a parish catechist in a Dublin city centre parish, says culturally Confirmation is seen as a “rite of passage between primary and secondary school”. The challenge presently is “commitment”.
“To nurture this commitment there has to be a programme of preparation that brings together home, school and parish, which is in place in many parishes,” says Eileen. “Of course, ultimately the commitment has to be a personal one on part of the candidate and their parents.”
Bishop Monahan is acutely aware of the debate over deferring Confirmation to a later date but personally feels the it is a “wonderful pastoral opportunity at the stage the children are at, in their time of transition”.
His confrère in the Limerick diocese does not agree. “I believe we should explore deferring Confirmation to a later age,” says Bishop Brendan Leahy. “My reason is simply that we need to get beyond the ‘package deal’ approach to Confirmation and move beyond the cultural practice in Ireland that when you are around 12 nearly everyone automatically makes his or her Confirmation.”
At a later age, there would be more choice involved, he continues. “Not all would make their Confirmation but at least then we would be indicating that Confirmation isn’t something we just slide into.”
He recognises that sacraments are always a gift that “don’t depend on our merits or choice as such” but even though Confirmation ceremonies in Ireland are “lovely and really well prepared,” and “we would lose something if we let go of what we have now – maybe it’s a step we have to take”, he suggests.
If Confirmation is pushed out, “there would have to be a programme in place or some form of support from youth groups or prayer groups that encourages the young adult to consider this,” says parish catechist Eileen, “as it is an age when many young people can feel isolated in their faith”.
Bishop Monahan praises the way young people are currently tutored in the meaning of Confirmation. “In most cases it links them into the wider parish community, along with their school and family. I find it a great opportunity to link in with parents and encourage them to continue in the practice of the faith.”
Which is fine and dandy, but why is it then that so many exit the Church shortly afterwards and what can be done to keep them engaged? “I don’t think it’s a question of young people exiting immediately after Confirmation,” says Bishop Leahy. “Since their family are not coming regularly to church, many children are no longer coming to Mass regularly before Confirmation.”
He admits to having “no magic wand solution” on keeping them engaged. “We all have to work on that together. It is part of a bigger question, of what is parish, parish community, how are we interacting with the young Church?”
Meanwhile the bishop of Killaloe sees great potential in the Pope John Paul II awards, which are “growing from strength to strength in many parishes” in keeping teenagers plugged into the Church and developing faith. He also commends pilgrimages to Lourdes and other “sacred places, World Youth Days and organisations like Youth 2000 which are a great help for people who participate in them”.