Thursday, July 12, 2012
270. Who is the minister of Confirmation?
(Comp
270) The original minister of Confirmation is the bishop. In this way the link
between the confirmed and the Church in her apostolic dimension is made
manifest. When a priest confers this sacrament, as ordinarily happens in the
East and in special cases in the West, the link with the bishop and with the
Church is expressed by the priest who is the collaborator of the bishop and by the
Sacred Chrism, consecrated by the bishop himself.
“In
brief”
(CCC 1315)
"Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the
word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for
them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for it had not yet fallen on any
of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then
they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit" (Acts
8:14-17).
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1312)
The original minister of Confirmation
is the bishop (Cf. LG 26). In the East, ordinarily the priest who baptizes also
immediately confers Confirmation in one and the same celebration. But he does
so with sacred chrism consecrated by the patriarch or the bishop, thus
expressing the apostolic unity of the Church whose bonds are strengthened by
the sacrament of Confirmation. In the Latin Church, the same discipline applies
to the Baptism of adults or to the reception into full communion with the
Church of a person baptized in another Christian community that does not have
valid Confirmation (Cf. CIC, Can. 883 § 2). (CCC 1314) If a Christian is in
danger of death, any priest should give him Confirmation (Cf. CIC, Can. 883 §
3). Indeed the Church desires that none of her children, even the youngest,
should depart this world without having been perfected by the Holy Spirit with
the gift of Christ's fullness.
On
reflection
(CCC 1313) In the Latin Rite, the ordinary minister
of Confirmation is the bishop (Cf. CIC, Can. 882). If the need arises, the
bishop may grant the faculty of administering Confirmation (Cf. CIC, Can. 884 §
2) to priests, although it is fitting that he confer it himself, mindful that
the celebration of Confirmation has been temporally separated from Baptism for
this reason. Bishops are the successors of the apostles. They have received the
fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The administration of this sacrament
by them demonstrates clearly that its effect is to unite those who receive it
more closely to the Church, to her apostolic origins, and to her mission of
bearing witness to Christ.
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