Confirmation – Fall 2023

FROM BISHOP CAGGIANO

As my Office begins preparations to schedule Confirmations for the Spring of 2024, I wish to announce some changes to our current practice that will allow the celebration of the Sacrament to become more uniform throughout the Diocese. These changes will take effect January 1, 2024.

1. All Confirmations for our elementary and high school age young people will be celebrated within a Liturgy of the Word Service. In order to avoid confusion about whether such celebrations also fulfill the Sunday Obligation, Confirmations will no longer be celebrated on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation.
2. The days on which Confirmations will be scheduled are Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
3. The times for such celebrations are fixed as follows:
   1. Weekdays:
      1. If there is only one service: 6:00 PM
      2. If there are two services: 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM.
   2. Saturdays:
      1. The available times for Confirmation are 10AM, 12 Noon and 2PM.
   3. Please note that these times cannot be changed without my office’s approval.
4. The new minimum number of candidates required to request a celebration of Confirmation is 40.
   1. In practical terms, this change means the following:
      1. If your total number of candidates is less than 40, you will need to combine Confirmation with another parish. The deans have agreed to help facilitate this process within their own deaneries.
      2. If your total number of candidates is over 60 but your Church’s capacity would severely restrict the number of adults who could attend the single ceremony, you may request two services to be conducted on a single day, even if the number of candidates for each service will be less than 40.
      3. If you wish to celebrate Confirmation every other year, you may request a celebration for your parish regardless of the number of candidates the parish may have.

5. Submission of the request form that you will receive in August is the only acceptable manner to request the celebration of Confirmation. It must be emailed to Carlos Mesquita at Mesquita@diobpt.org.
6. The deadline for submission of all requests will be strictly enforced. More specifically, all requests for the celebration of Confirmation from January through June 30, 2024, must be submitted no later than September 30, 2023.
   1. If a parish misses the submission deadline, Confirmation will be available for its candidates at a single celebration that will be held at Saint Augustine Cathedral on Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 10:00 AM.

Related Documents

Confirmation Request Form – Spring 2024