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The Salina Diocese, after two years of discussion and discernment, will begin celebrating the Sacraments of Initiation in their original order: Baptism, then Confirmation, then Eucharist. The principal motivation for the shift is to follow the long-standing tradition of first receiving the grace of the sacraments and then spending the rest of our lives deepening our cooperation with that grace and learning how to live what we have received: life in Christ. We will be moving away from emphasizing preparation for the sacraments and toward emphasizing how to live the sacraments. Josefina Gantt and Rick Smith, our religious education leaders, are working out a schedule and are beginning to prepare our catechists. More information will be forthcoming. Josefina and Rick are available to answer any questions you may have, and I am also available for consultation on this important move. In the future, 1st Reconciliation will be celebrated in second grade. Confirmation and 1st Communion will be celebrated together in third grade. During the transition, there will be several celebrations of Confirmation for older students so that no one is missed. |
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2026-2027 Implementation of the Restored Order of the Sacraments of Initiation (ROSI)
- Second Graders will receive the Sacrament of First Reconciliation. In 2027-28, in Third Grade, they will receive the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion in the Spring.
- Additional Confirmation Masses throughout 2026-2027 will be offered for children in grades 3-12.
- Ninth & Tenth Graders - Confirmation Mass on November 22, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.
- Seventh & Eighth Graders (or older siblings) - Confirmation Mass on January 17, 2027 at 3:00 p.m.
- Third - Sixth (or older siblings) - Confirmation Masses on January 31 and February 7, 2027 at 3:00 p.m.
- ✳️Registration in our Religious Education Program (mid-July) will be required for all who wish to have their children Confirmed in the 2026-2027 school year. Families with children at Manhattan Catholic Schools will have the option to register for Confirmation Only and are not required to attend Wednesday classes but will be asked to attend a few specific classes, retreats, rehearsals, or meetings.
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You may choose how and when your child(ren) are confirmed. If you have multiple children you can choose to confirm them at separate Masses or all together. You may choose to wait until they are older. We are asking all families with children in this age range to fill out a brief survey to let us know how many children will be confirmed in 2026-2027 to help us plan for the coming year.
Confirmation Interest Survey 2026-27
More information and education on why we are making this change will be shared starting May 2026.
Information about Restored Order of the Sacraments of Initiation (ROSI)
Click the buttons below for more resources from Salina Diocese regarding the Restored Order of the Sacraments of Initiation (ROSI)
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Want to dig a little deeper?
As you have likely heard by now, Bishop Vincke and his staff and advisors decided that our Salina Diocese will move toward Restored Order of the Sacraments of Initiation. (ROSI) We the clergy & staff at St. Thomas More parish support this decision and believe it will have many positive outcomes, albeit with a few adjustments and "growing pains."
ROSI Basics:
+ In the first centuries after Christ Jesus, people wanting to join our Church received some basic instruction on our faith (think Nicene Creed), and then were Baptized, Confirmed (Anointed), and received the Eucharist, in that order, at the same Mass/gathering. All Sacraments begin with Baptism and are completed in the Eucharist.
+ This continued for centuries, with the exception of some parents choosing to baptize their infants (but still maintain the order of Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist) until 1910 when Pope Pius X lowered the "age of reason" from around 12 to around 7 in order for children to start receiving the Eucharist and its graces at a younger age, a good decision!
+ Although Pope Pius X never intended for first Eucharist to come before Confirmation, he and the Roman Catholic Church did not thoroughly explain that the age of Confirmation should be lowered along with the age of first Eucharist. (We can call this a "mistake," but it never occurred to them that First Eucharist would ever be celebrated before Confirmation). This is how the Sacraments of Initiation got out of order.
+ Consequently, different dioceses around the world either (1) started conferring both Confirmation and First Eucharist around age 7 (which was Pope Pius X's intention) or (2) started celebrating First Eucharist around age 7 but waited until around age 12 or older to Confirm them (which was not Pope Pius X's intention).
It should be noted that this has been an issue primarily in the West (Western Europe and the U.S.). The Eastern churches have always celebrated all three sacraments in infancy, and the churches in Latin America have done similarly.
+ In the U.S., the official age for Confirmation is “between ages of 7 and 18.” However, Church teaching says that Eucharist is the completion of initiation. The practice of confirming after First Eucharist puts the cart before the horse. The truth is that Baptism and Confirmation go together, and Eucharist follows. That is why more and more dioceses are changing the age of Confirmation, to restore the correct order of receiving the three sacraments of initiation.
Our St. Thomas More staff members are communicating and cooperating with Seven Dolors Parish and Manhattan Catholic Schools to implement this change.
Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns, we are happy to help as we walk through this change together.
STM Clergy & Religious Education Staff
Fr. Frank Coady, Pastor
Fr. Don Zimmerman, Retired Pastor
Josefina Gantt, Director of Religious Education
Rick Smith, Youth Minister
Alysia Baumann, Office Manager
This video gives a detailed history of how the Sacraments of Initiation were conferred from the beginning of the church and how changes were made to get us to where we are now.