Q: Bishop was reviewing sacramental records in a parish, and discovered that a 7 y/o child who recently made her first communion was baptized in the reformed church.
No profession of faith/reception and no confirmation (obviously) was celebrated.
First Communion alone doesn’t rally “count” as a profession of faith / reception, right?
So… treat her as a candidate, do whatever preparation is needed, then have her profess the faith, be received, and then confirmed?
Most likely in pretty short order….
It would seem that minimal additional preparation would be necessary, provided the girl expresses her desire to be Catholic and the parents are in agreement.
Most importantly the family would need to understand that continued participation in the faith formation process/Catholic school is an expectation.
According to canonist John Huels, you cannot dispense from the requirement that confirmation follow reception. That is, she can’t be received now and confirmed later.
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A: Here’s a previous post on a related theme: https://paulturner.org/children-baptized-outside-of-the-catholic-church/
But your case has gone further.
You need a canonist to resolve this, but I think you have a child receiving communion illicitly. So if the parents want the child to be considered a Catholic, then the full rite of reception with confirmation and communion is in order.