Expert: Fr. Michael - 9/30/2007

Question
My question for you today Father is this; My son is now 14 years old.  He will turn 15 in March.  Our priest(whom I thought was doing what the diocese told him to do when my son was 11) removed the public school children from the CCD class preparing for Confirmation but allowed only the Catholic school children to be confirmed in the class.  My son would have received in 7th grade.  When I found out that all other children in my diocese(in our town) had been confirmed by 7th grade, I called the diocese.  They said the Bishop DOES NOT condone confirming children past the age of 12.  Our priest is such a "play it by the rules" person that I just assumed he was doing what he was told.  My son's class will be receiving confirmation in the Fall of '08.  The only problem is, we are no longer at that church.  I can tell you a list of reasons why we and so many others have left but it would take a great amount of time.  The list is very lengthy.  We are now involved with another church where we have a friend who is a permanent deacon.  The problem is, my son does not want to go to CCD because all of the children are 10 and 11 and he is 14.  Is there any other way this boy can get confirmed?  He was actually crying this morning.  He said he knows no one and feels very out of place.  CCD began on the 16th.  We are already 3 weeks into it.  I am so upset over this, yet I know where my son is coming from.  I would call the church but I need to know my options first.
Thank you and God bless you!

Answer
What you seem to be describing is a New Order situation, not a traditional Catholic situation.  I would encourage you to get away from the New Order entirely and consult a traditional Catholic priest about preparation for Confirmation.  Traditional priests are far more flexible in such situations, as for them the Sacrament is the important thing, not arbitrary New Order bureaucratic hoops.  There is a list of traditional priests at www.traditio.com/nat.htm.