Sponsor for Confirmation Preparation Program
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Online Catholic Confirmation Sponsor Preparation Course and Certificate
If you are a confirmed, practicing Catholic preparing to serve as a Confirmation sponsor, this self-paced online course will help you understand the Sacrament, your responsibilities, and how to support the person you are sponsoring before and after Confirmation.
A Confirmation sponsor does more than participate in the ceremony. The sponsor should be a faithful Catholic example who prays for the candidate, encourages perseverance in the Faith, and helps the candidate live as a confirmed member of the Catholic Church.
Who Should Take This Course?
- Confirmed Catholics preparing to serve as a Confirmation sponsor.
- Sponsors who need a Certificate of Completion to document their preparation.
- Sponsors who cannot attend a scheduled parish class because of work, travel, distance, health, or other circumstances.
- Catholics seeking to understand their responsibility to guide and encourage a Confirmation candidate.
- Parishes, DREs, and Confirmation coordinators seeking a faithful and flexible online preparation resource for sponsors.
Who May Serve as a Confirmation Sponsor?
A Confirmation sponsor should be a baptized and confirmed Catholic who has received Holy Communion, practices the Catholic Faith, and is capable of helping the candidate live faithfully as a Catholic. The sponsor should be a suitable spiritual example, free from impediments that would prevent him or her from undertaking this responsibility, and ordinarily should not be the candidate’s father or mother.
This course provides the formation and Certificate of Completion that a sponsor may share with the parish. The parish overseeing the Confirmation will separately verify the sponsor’s eligibility.
Course Highlights
- Approximately one hour: Complete the course in about one hour while still receiving meaningful preparation for this important responsibility.
- Self-paced and online: Study on your own schedule from any location with internet access.
- Faithful Catholic instruction: Learn what the Catholic Church teaches about Confirmation, the Holy Ghost, sacramental grace, and the sponsor’s duties.
- Preparation for the ceremony: Understand the Rite of Confirmation, what will occur, and what the sponsor will be expected to do.
- Practical spiritual guidance: Learn how to pray for, encourage, and remain involved in the Catholic life of the person you sponsor.
- Certificate available: Students who successfully complete the course may request a Certificate of Completion in Confirmation Sponsor Preparation.
What You Will Learn
- Why Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of Confirmation.
- How Confirmation completes and strengthens the grace received in Baptism.
- How the confirmed Catholic receives the Holy Ghost and His gifts in a special manner.
- Why Confirmation imprints an indelible sacramental character upon the soul.
- How Confirmation strengthens Catholics to profess, live, and defend the Faith.
- Why Confirmation is not merely a graduation from religious education.
- What qualifications a Catholic should possess before serving as a sponsor.
- What is expected of a sponsor before, during, and after the Confirmation ceremony.
- What happens during the Rite of Confirmation and how the sponsor participates.
- How a sponsor can help the candidate persevere in prayer, the Sacraments, and a faithful Catholic life.
Your Role Does Not End After Confirmation
A Confirmation sponsor should remain a source of prayer, encouragement, and faithful Catholic example after the ceremony. The sponsor can help the newly confirmed Catholic attend Mass, receive the Sacraments worthily, develop a stronger prayer life, resist temptations against the Faith, and fulfill the duties of a confirmed Catholic.
The sponsor’s continuing interest can be especially important as the newly confirmed person encounters questions, temptations, and decisions that require courage and fidelity to the Church.
Certificate of Completion
Students who successfully complete the course may request a Certificate of Completion in Confirmation Sponsor Preparation. The certificate documents completion of the program and may be shared with the parish overseeing the Confirmation.
Completing the course, paying the applicable certificate fee, and submitting the official Certificate Request Form are separate required steps. Standard electronic certificates are generally prepared within 2–3 business days. Expedited certificate processing is available for an additional fee when needed.
Each sponsor who needs a certificate must register individually, purchase and complete a separate copy of the course, and submit an individual certificate request.
Are You Preparing to Receive Confirmation?
This Confirmation Sponsor Preparation Course is intended only for Catholics who have already been confirmed and are preparing to serve as sponsors.
If you have not yet received Confirmation, you need a course designed for the candidate receiving the Sacrament. Adults should review our Adult Confirmation Preparation Course. Parents seeking preparation for a child or teenager should review our Children’s Confirmation Preparation Course.