Should Catholic parents force their children to be confirmed?
The short answer
No. Infants can validly be confirmed, as in Eastern Catholic Churches, but someone old enough to decide should be allowed to choose. Canon law requires a person with the use of reason to be properly disposed to receive confirmation lawfully — and an unwilling child is not.
Let the young person decide
Confirmation can be validly received by infants, as Eastern Catholic Churches do. But once a person is old enough to decide, he should be allowed to choose for himself whether to receive it.
What canon law requires
Apart from danger of death, a person who has the use of reason must be suitably instructed, properly disposed and able to renew the baptismal promises to receive confirmation lawfully (CIC 889).
The unwilling child
A child who does not want to be confirmed is not properly disposed, and so cannot lawfully receive the sacrament.
Continue exploring
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