Pope Saint Paul VI promulgated the revised rite in the apostolic constitution Divinae consortium naturae in 1971. That document settled a long-debated question by declaring the essential rite of Confirmation to be the anointing with sacred chrism on the forehead, done by the laying on of the hand, with the words: "Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit." The sacrament completes baptismal grace, roots the confirmed more deeply in divine sonship, strengthens the bond with the Church, and gives a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith. Like baptism and orders it imprints an indelible character and is received only once. The celebration ordinarily takes place within Mass, so that the connection between the three sacraments of initiation is clear. After the Gospel the candidates are presented, sometimes by name; the bishop preaches and then asks the candidates to renew the promises made at their baptism, renouncing sin and professing the faith. He extends his hands over all of them and prays that God send the Holy Spirit upon them with the sevenfold gift — wisdom and understanding, counsel and fortitude, knowledge and piety, and the fear of the Lord. Each candidate then comes forward with a sponsor, and the bishop dips his thumb in the chrism, traces the cross on the forehead, and says the words of the form, adding, "Peace be with you." The bishop is the ordinary minister, a sign of the confirmed person's bond with the apostolic Church and with the diocese. A priest confirms by law when he baptizes an adult or receives a baptized Christian into full communion, and when he baptizes a child old enough for catechesis; he may also receive the faculty from the bishop or from law in danger of death. The sacred chrism itself, olive oil mixed with balsam, is consecrated by the bishop at the Chrism Mass in Holy Week and distributed to the parishes of the diocese. A sponsor is required and it is desirable that one of the baptismal godparents serve, again to show the unity of initiation; the sponsor must be a confirmed, practicing Catholic. The choice of a confirmation name is a custom rather than a requirement of the rite. Practice as to age varies legitimately: in the Latin Church in the United States the diocesan bishop determines the age, and in some dioceses Confirmation is celebrated in the restored order, before First Communion, while in the Eastern Catholic Churches chrismation is conferred with baptism in infancy.

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