The Bishop of Leeds has announced that his diocese will be lowering the age at which baptised Catholics will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.
In a pastoral letter released on Sunday, Bishop Marcus Stock said young people would now be invited to make their Confirmation in their last year of primary school when they are 11, as opposed to 14.
The bishop said that it was "a cause for concern" that a large proportion of those who are baptised do not make their Confirmation. He said: "In the Diocese of Leeds a large proportion of those who are baptised into the Catholic Church (68 per cent) and make their first Holy Communion (58 per cent) do not receive also the Sacrament of Confirmation. This means that we are failing, as a diocesan family, to complete the initiation into the Catholic Faith of a considerable number of our children and young people. Such a failure deprives many of our young people of the objective grace of the Sacrament of Confirmation; the spiritual gift which provides the vital help they need in their young and adult lives."
