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January 12, 2005

How To Tell Columbia House You're Honked Off

(Jimmy Akin)

Down yonder, a reader writes:

Any idea how we can contact Columbia House and express our disgust?

Yep!

HERE'S THEIR ONLINE CUSTOMER CONTACT FORM.

And you can call their (curiously non-toll-free) customer service line:

812-242-7000

If you are a blogger or would e-mail friends and family about this, please take this opportunity to rally folks to contact Columbia House and let them know the level of opposition there is out their to their porn club!

Posted by Jimmy Akin in Confirmation | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

April 23, 2004

Getting Confirmation About Confirmation

(Jimmy Akin)

A correspondent writes:

I came into the Church as a convert at the Easter Vigil in 2002. I found out last night that my Confirmation sponsor was never himself Confirmed. While he has a certificate of baptism that has the word "Catholic"; on it, the church at which he was baptized was probably not in full communion with Rome, and so there is some question about whether my sponsor was even Catholic. Does this affect the validity of my own Confirmation?

My sponsor also told me that the priest, who is also the diocesan canon lawyer, told him that the validity of my Confirmation is not affected. However, while I have trusted my sponsor implicitly in the past, the fact that he failed to tell me that he might not be eligible to be my sponsor because he was not Confirmed himself has really shook me up.

I sympathize with your situation. However, your priest is correct that your sponsor's lack of qualifications do not affect the validity of your confirmation. Here's what the Code of Canon Law says:

Insofar as possible, there is to be a sponsor for the person to be confirmed; the sponsor is to take care that the confirmed person behaves as a true witness of Christ and faithfully fulfills the obligations inherent in this sacrament [Can. 892].

Note that the canon says "Insofar as possible, there is to be a sponsor." Thus even the complete absence of a sponsor does not affect the validity of a confirmation. The presence of a sponsor simply is not required for the sacrament to be valid.

Hope this sets your mind at rest!

Posted by Jimmy Akin in Confirmation | Permalink | Comments (1)