Scottish Catholic Observer

Nine-year-old Mateusz Stukan was prevented from making his Confirmation in June along with his classmates at St John’s Primary in Rosyth, Fife, due to illness.

Instead, Archbishop Leo Cushley of St Andrews & Edinburgh invited young Mateusz to his residence at St Bennet’s in Edinburgh, where he was Confirmed in his own ceremony.

“I am very happy,” Mateusz said moments after he made his Confirmation.

Mateusz’s mum Marta said the family were all very happy for him. “This is a special moment in Mateusz’s life, to receive these gifts from God and to do it here makes us even more happy,” she said.

Mateusz was joined at the archbishop’s residence on September 12 by younger brother Boguslaw, grandparents Marek and Anna, Confirmation sponsor Slawomir Maczynski, and parish priest of St Peter in Chains in Inverkeithing Fr Kevin Dow.

“I’m happy for the family that Mateusz has been Confirmed,” Fr Dow said. “He’s also recently made his First Holy Communion and has started serving on the altar. He’s a lovely lad.”

Mateusz opted for Hubertus as his Confirmation name, after the eighth century Bishop of Liège, St Hubertus.

“He is the patron saint of mathematics,” Mateusz said. “I like mathematics!”