Later confirmation is an adult decision

÷ Sir — “A generation may never make their confirmation” is the very apt headline on

Wayne O’Connor article (Sunday Independent, May 17), pointing out the strategic difficulties in carrying out confirmations this year before children leave national school for secondary school.

As a former Catholic secondary school teacher who served in three dioceses in southeast England, my experience has shown me many of the positives of delaying confirmation until the age of 15, when 60pc to 70pc of young Catholics opt for the sacrament.

What happened to those who did not opt for the adult commitment of confirmation at 15? In their early and mid20s and later, a great many took part in parish-based

RCIA programmes, sometimes coinciding with marriage preparation. Approximately

1,000 adult Londoners have received confirmation at Easter ceremonies each year for the last 10 years.

Is now the time for Irish dioceses to move from what

Pope Francis once called “the sacrament of farewell” to the creation of the sacrament of adulthood?

Alan Whelan,

Killarney, Co Kerry