What is the correct age for confirmation?
The short answer
Canon law sets about the age of discretion (traditionally seven), unless the bishops' conference decides otherwise. In the United States the conference set a range from the age of discretion to about sixteen, so each bishop chooses an age within it.
Canon law
Confirmation is to be conferred at about the age of discretion, unless the bishops' conference sets a different age, there is danger of death, or a grave reason in the minister's judgment suggests otherwise (CIC 891). The age of reason is traditionally understood as seven, so eight is not too young.
The United States
In 2002, with the Holy See's approval, the U.S. bishops decreed that confirmation in Latin-rite dioceses be conferred between the age of discretion (about seven) and about sixteen. Each bishop may set an age in that range, which is why some dioceses confirm teenagers and others young children.
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