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.’29


1290

1313 In the Latin rite, the ordinary minister of Confirmation is the

bishop.’3° If the need arises, the bishop may grant the faculty of administering Confirmation to priests,13’ 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

1285

apostolic origins and to her mission of bearing witness to Christ.

1307

1314 If a Christian is in danger of death, any priest can give him

Confirmation.’32 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.


IN BRIEF

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 ofthem, but they had only been baptized in the name ofthe Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 8:14—1 7).


13 16 Confirmation perfects Baptismal grace; it is the sacrament which gives the Holy Spirit in order to root us more deeply in the divine filiation, incorporate us more firmly into Christ, strengthen our bond with the Church, associate us more closely with her mission, and help us bear witness to the Christian faith in words accompanied by deeds. 1317 Confirmation, like Baptism, imprints a spiritual mark or indelible character on the Christian’s sou l;for this reason one can receive this sacrament only once in one’s life.