– Don Enrico Finotti
Which is the most suitable itinerary for the Christian initiation of children already baptized, and which is the most suitable moment for the first Communion and Confirmation?
It is necessary to reiterate the difference between the actual Catechumenate of those who are not yet baptized and the analogous one of children already baptized from birth. In the first, the preparation precedes the reception of the sacraments, in the second, instead the sacraments of the first Reconciliation and the first Communion precede the preponderant part of the catechesis of Initiation, which is generally concluded with the sacrament of Confirmation towards the twelve years of age. The anticipated sacraments with respect to the subsequent catechesis is established by the current dispositions of the Church, which wants to protect the children as soon as possible by giving them the heavenly sacraments, so that, as soon as the use of reason is reached, their right to have the help of supernatural grace for spiritual warfare is assured. This discipline was established by Pope St Pius X who in the Quam singulari decree (1910), citing important affirmations of saints, had declared: “The child, having arrived at this use of reason, immediately and by divine right, contracts this obligation, from which it cannot be freed at all by the Church” (St Thomas Aquinas). “When the child is capable of malice or when he can sin mortally then he is obliged to the precept of the Confession and consequently of the Communion” (St Antonino).
In this way the Initiation of the children begins with a short catechesis, but sufficient to access Reconciliation and the first Communion; then follow from the true and proper years of organic catechesis in which the children deepen the mystery of Christ sustained by the grace of his sacraments; finally the itinerary ends with the sacrament of Confirmation. The Quam singulari decree states: “Full and perfect knowledge of Christian doctrine is not necessary for first confession and for the first communion. However the child must then gradually learn the whole catechism, according to the capacity of his intelligence.”
We can then understand how the Church intends the Christian initiation of children already baptized: from an attentive reception of the two sacraments of Reconciliation and the first Communion, the organic and complete path of basic catechesis is followed, which is normally concluded around the age of twelve with Sacrament of Confirmation. The question of the order of the sacraments, connected to this issue, would require further and more complex investigations, which we cannot present here. In this matter there is still a lively and open debate. However, the current discipline, as can be deduced from the current Magisterium of the Church, rests on precise theological and pastoral bases.
(From Il mio e il vostro sacrificio. Il liturgista risponde, 2018©Chorabooks. Translated by Aurelio Porfiri. Used with permission of the publisher. All rights reserved)
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