Bishop William F. Medley prepares to confirm the OCIA candidates at St. Stephen Cathedral during the April 4, 2026 Easter Vigil. RILEY GREIF | WKC
A Word From Bishop Medley: Yes, you are still holy!
“In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the hoped for Messiah for his saving mission. the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus at his baptism by John was the sign that this was he who was to come, the Messiah, the Son of God. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit; his whole life and his whole mission are carried out in total communion with the Holy Spirit whom the Father gives him ‘without measure.’”
-From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1286
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
As bishop it is my responsibility and privilege to be the ordinary minister of the Sacrament of Confirmation. In extraordinary situations I may delegate a priest to celebrate this sacrament.
In the Diocese of Owensboro, the most common age for Confirmation is 12-15, grades 7-9. Each year I celebrate Confirmation on average in 35 or more of our 78 parishes. Medium to larger parishes generally have Confirmation every year. Smaller parishes – and we have a lot of small parishes – may celebrate Confirmation every other year or even less frequently depending upon the number of eligible children. Many of these smaller parishes bring together children from neighboring parishes. Each year I confirm between 400 and 500 children and youth, and that number has been trending higher. I do not keep a particular count but after 16 years as bishop I am certain that I have confirmed more 6,000.
When one enters the Catholic Church as an adult it is the norm that the pastor of the parish would confer the Sacrament of Confirmation. More than 420 were confirmed in our parishes on Holy Saturday this year; a few of these were children but most were youth and adults.
The Easter season is an ideal time of the Church year to celebrate Confirmation, accentuating the reality that Confirmation and Holy Eucharist are, with Baptism, the sacraments of initiation.
I am fascinated by statistics and so I calculate that having confirmed over 6,000 people in the diocese, that I have confirmed one in every ten Catholics in the diocese. That is impressive, but I recall that when the late Auxiliary Bishop of Louisville Charles G. Maloney died it was estimated that he had confirmed more than 80,000 people. I was one of them in 1960.
While our parish of St. Francis of Assisi in St. Francis, Kentucky, in the Archdiocese of Louisville, was considered small by comparison to the city and suburban parishes, on the night of my Confirmation, Bishop Maloney confirmed over 100 children, all the second and third graders. These were the Baby Boom years and every class was large.
I always tell the newly-confirmed that I hope that when they see me again that they will remind me that I confirmed them. Many do and now after 16 years those confirmed at the age of 14 are now 30 years old. It is not unusual for me then to meet the children of those I have confirmed.
I also tell the newly-confirmed that if they do tell me I that I confirmed them that I will ask them a question. But I assure them that it is always the same question and I give them the answer.
The question is, “Are you still holy?” and the answer is “Yes.”
The answer is “yes” because they are created in the image and likeness of God, and as such they are holy. We cannot change what God has created.
May God bless you always!
Most Reverend William F. Medley
Diocese of Owensboro
Originally printed in the May 2026 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
