A childhood belief about church

When we were 11 or 12, we were confirmed in to the Catholic church. Part of this is that you choose a saint's name, to go with your own name...to this day I'm still not sure why...I think it had something to do with what God would call you...Anyway, on the day, you had to go up in front of the bishop, state your chosen name, and then he would tap you on your cheek. (again, don't know why!) All the older kids who had already been confirmed used to tell us that if the bishop didn't like you, or if you had been bad a school, he would smack you across the face. Someone told me that one guy, Noel, who was the "bad-boy" at school, got a black eye because the bishop hit him so hard! I really really believed it, and I was quaking in my shoes when it came to my turn, in case the bishop knew about all the times I had been caught talking in class...