Confirmation is generally administered around age 13... are you sure you were Confirmed at 9? Also, Confirmation isn't about being committed to God, it's a Sacrament of adulthood in God's Family. What it does for this new family is bring them forward in their faith formation. It may sound good to rush into Marriage, but the Church recognizes the need to marry adults who understand the Sacrament. Is it any great surprise that so many marriages end in divorce if so many treat it so lightly? Would the child benefit from parents who have the Spiritual maturity of toddlers? Would the child benefit from the eventual divorce?
I guess I should stop for now. I was hoping that this was just an anomaly, and that the local church screwed up big time. But now, I am simply horrified that so many Catholics here do NOT take God’s admonishment against fornication seriously, erring big time on the side of grace while not even mentioning marriage to the kid! Church leaders are supposed to lead and guide people in the things of God, should people choose not to find out themselves via His Word.
I'm always shocked at the Protestants who stand in judgement of what they don't understand. They make themselves the final arbiter of God's Will and interpreter of His Word. Then, they point a hypocritical finger at the Church.
What a sad state the Catholic church is in!
Your pity is misplaced.
Confirmation is a good example of a doctrine that has no basis in scripture; in a restrictive view, that would make it “extra-biblical”. In a permissive view, there’s nothing in the bible that precludes including a confirmation before allowing “full membership” into the church, or however Catholics frame that transition.