Confirmation

Through Confirmation, we receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as did the apostles at Pentecost. This binds us more closely to the church and we "are more strictly obliged both to spread and to defend the faith by word and deed."

(Lumen gentium, 11)

Confirmation is the second sacrament of initiation, even though it is usually deferred to between the ages of thirteen and sixteen for those who are baptized Catholic as infants.

In the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, children who were baptized Catholic as infants and have received Eucharist / First Communion are prepared for the sacrament of Confirmation between the ages of thirteen and sixteen (grades 8 - 11). Each child is to have a sponsor other than their parent for the sacrament of Confirmation. This sponsor may be a baptismal godparent of the child or another adult over the age of sixteen who has received all the sacraments of initiation in the Catholic Church (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist / First Communion); if married, the sponsor must be validly married in the Catholic Church.