Vatican City, May 30, 2018 / 02:43 am
Pope Francis said Wednesday that confirmation is the sacrament in which Catholics are marked with a seal that solidifies their belonging to Christ through the Holy Spirit, who he said is God's invisible gift to each person who receives the sacrament.
Referring to how candidates for confirmation are told to "receive the seal of the Holy Spirit given to you as a gift," Pope Francis said May 30 that the Holy Spirit "is the invisible gift bestowed" on candidates, and the holy oil they are anointed with, called "chrism," is the "visible seal" of this gift.
"In the image of Christ who bears on himself the seal of the Father, Christians are also marked with a seal that says to whom they belong," he said, adding that "it is God himself who confirms us in Christ and who has given us the anointing, he has impressed us with a seal and has given us the deposit of the Spirit in our hearts."
Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for his weekly general audience, which this week focused on the sacrament of confirmation as a part of the process of Christian initiation in the Catholic Church.