The decision of the bishop of Leeds to bring forward the age at which the Sacrament of Confirmation is administered has dismayed Judith Daniels (Letters, 15 October). I have never understood why the Sacrament is delayed so long, contrary to ancient Church practice.

Under the dispensation of Pope Leo XIII my father was confirmed before he came to make his First Holy Communion at the age of 12. Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and, as far as we know, since earliest times, that had been the constant and universal practice of the Church. A bishop “confirmed the baptism” of each of his flock who wished to proceed to receive the Sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist, which was always regarded as the fullness of Christian initiation. My mother made her First Holy Communion at the age of seven, after the issue of Pius X’s decree Quam singulari.