The two of us have completed the joyful Paschal Season, from Easter Sunday through Pentecost, which finds us almost every day in one of our wonderful parishes celebrating the sacrament of confirmation. We thank God for the example of our young people, who have taken their preparation for this moment of grace so seriously, who unfailingly inspire us by their faith.

Our parents, sponsors, priests, catechists, youth ministers, deacons, pastoral associates, and parish directors have earned our gratitude as well for their generous devotion to getting our young people ready for this powerful moment in their lives of faith.

For the past 27 years, since 1979, the practice of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has been that our young people approach the sacrament of confirmation around the age of 16 or 17, usually in junior year of high school.

As you may know, while we as Catholics all hold the same belief in the meaning, purpose, and effect of this great sacrament — as “Lumen Gentium” teaches, “by the sacrament of confirmation, the baptized are more perfectly bound to the church, and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed” — there is widespread difference in pastoral practice as to when this sacrament should be administered. Our Eastern rite Catholics celebrate it at the moment of baptism; some dioceses call for it near a child’s first holy Communion, others in junior high school, still others, like us, at 16 or 17. Each age has its own theological reason as well as pastoral and spiritual advantages (and disadvantages).

A little over a year ago, I (Archbishop Dolan) received a very thoughtful letter, signed by hundreds of our faithful, asking me to consider changing our praxis here in the archdiocese, to have our young people receive the sacrament in junior high school. I certainly wanted to take their request seriously, so I asked our Archdiocesan Pastoral Council — that consultative body consisting of an elected lay representative from each of the 16 districts of the archdiocese, plus a delegate from the priests, deacons, and religious women and men — to undertake a careful review of the question.

They did … and they did it well. They consulted with theologians, parents, catechists, and young people themselves, and hosted two town-meeting-style listening sessions in a sincere desire to assess the pros and cons of the different ages. We thank them for their efforts.

Two weeks ago, at the regular meeting of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, they unanimously recommended that the practice of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee continue as it is, and that our young people receive the sacrament at 16 or 17.

We accept their recommendation.

We also thank the many voices raised on behalf of a change. Over the last year, thanks to them, parishes, families, pastoral leaders — priests, deacons, lay pastoral associates, parish directors, catechists, youth ministers — and our youth, have looked hard at the sacrament of confirmation. Everywhere we went, people asked us about it, and weighed in on the conversation. We found it moving that so many were taking this sacrament so seriously, and had convictions about when it might be best to celebrate it.

While we, your bishops, personally fully support the custom of the archdiocese to confirm our young people at 16 or 17, we admit it is not the answer to everything, and that there are problems with it. Yes, our youth could certainly benefit from the graces of this powerful sacrament earlier in their teenage years when temptations to faith and virtue intensify. Thank God they can rely then on the Eucharist, the sacrament of reconciliation, sincere prayer, the example of parents and good friends, and the strong grounding they have from family, Catholic schools, and religious education classes. >P>The valuable archdiocesan-wide consultation on this issue has also brought up some features of our practice that need attention.

For one, sometimes our confirmation candidates mistakenly approach the sacrament as a reward or a recognition that he or she has achieved, earned, or merited. Such, of course, is completely contrary to Catholic doctrine, which holds that a sacrament is a pure and undeserved gift from God. While our young people can genuinely indicate their humble openness to the grace of the sacrament through their prayer, retreats, classes, and apostolic service, they should never approach these as a way to deserve confirmation.

While the reception of the sacrament provides a providential occasion for our young people to reaffirm their identity as disciples of Jesus, as Christians, as members of his Catholic Church, it should not be presented as an occasion to choose or reject Christ and his Church. It is Christ who chooses us. We need confirmation not because we claim to be saints, but because we know we’re sinners; we want to be confirmed not because we are proud but because we are humble; in this sacrament we don’t do God a big favor, he does one for us.

We are confirmed not because God and his church need us, but because we need the Lord and his church.

In short, the sacrament is not about us. It’s about Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, a candidate need not have all the answers to faith’s persistent questions, as he or she still has a lifetime of growth in holiness and discipleship ahead. We also realize we must constantly work to assure that our candidates are firmly grounded in the essentials of our Catholic faith, that they have integrated it, and that they are able to defend it when questioned and explain it when asked.

Many of our pastors have urged that the preparation for the sacrament pay special attention to the church’s teaching on the vocation of marriage and the virtue of chastity, so threatened in today’s culture.

What a blessing it is as your bishops to confirm our young people! What a gift it is to see our candidates, their parents, sponsors, and catechists so serious about the faith! What a boost this year of discussion and conversation about the appropriate age of the sacrament has been for all of us, as our understanding of and appreciation for its meaning and effect has deepened.

Thanks be to God! Thanks to all of you!

Faithfully in Christ,

Most Rev. Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee

Most Rev. Richard J. Sklba, Auxiliary Bishop of Milwaukee