51. The main issue of this unfair and untimely disagreement between the Latin and Greek churches derives from the controversies in which our theologians habitually engage. Some dispute whether the Apostles conferred the sacrament of Confirmation by laying on of hands or by using holy oil, and as usual some assert what others deny. They also dispute whether the imposition of hands alone is the matter of this sacrament. Some hold that this is the case, while others consider the holy oil to be the remote matter of the sacrament; in this case the application of this oil in the sign of the Cross to the forehead of the confirmand is considered the proximate matter. These last argue from the text of the decree for the Instruction of the Armenians published by Pope Eugenius IV: "The second sacrament is Confirmation whose matter is chrism. Chrism is made from oil and balm which has been blessed by the bishop. The oil signifies a good conscience and the balm, good reputation." In speaking of the imposition of hands which the Apostles used in conferring this sacrament, Pope Eugenius adds: "In place of that imposition of hands, however, Confirmation is given in the Church." Finally, others join together the imposition of hands and the chrism, stating that both are equally the matter of the sacrament of Confirmation, but that either is insufficient by itself. Only when these two are joined together do they comprise the full matter of the sacrament.

As regards the imposition of hands, some think it consists in the stretching out of the hands of the bishop towards the confirmands at the start of the ceremony while he is saying the opening prayers. Others understand it to consist in the very act of anointing of the forehead of the confirmand by the bishop, since it is impossible to anoint the forehead without laying a hand on it. These are controversies which engage our theologians, and everyone may embrace the interpretation he finds most persuasive. But it is wrong for anyone to assert that the sacrament of Confirmation does not exist in the Greek Church. For this opinion is contradicted by ancient eastern practice as found in the Greek Rituals which make no reference to the imposition of hands as matter either sufficient or insufficient of the sacrament of Confirmation. And this practice has never been condemned or criticized by the Apostolic See although it was well-known. So to escape the labyrinth of this difficulty, a different line must be followed, a line which is open to the careful seeker. This line avoids a condemnation of a view which has many supporters among the orthodox, on the basis of an uncertain and undefined proposition.