Last Rites

From Damian Thompson's Holy Smoke

Now everyone wants the Last Rites
Posted By: Damian Thompson at Sep 29, 2008 at 20:13:10 [General]
Posted in: Religion
Tags:Anointing of the sick , Extreme Unction , Fr Zuhlsdorf , Last Rites

More and more Catholics are receiving the Last Rites even though they are perfectly healthy or may be suffering from nothing more serious than a runny nose or a touch of arthritis.

Catholics are now asking for the Last Rites if they have a runny nose

This ludicrous situation has arisen because the Last Rites, properly known as the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, have been repackaged as "the Sacrament of the Sick" or just "the Sacrament of Healing". And, in our hypochondriac age, everyone wants to be healed.

So, as a discussion on Fr Z's excellent blog reveals, we have the spectacle of healthy people of all ages coming forward for an anointing that is intended (among other things) to ease the passing of the soul from one life to the next.

These days, liberal priests go bananas if you even use the phrase "Last Rites". They don't like "Extreme Unction" either, even though that is how the sacrament is described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. These are the same Futurechurch priests who dislike the word "Confession", insisting on "Reconciliation".

Now, there is a good reason why the Church encourages Catholics, in many circumstances, to describe Extreme Unction as the Sacrament of the Sick. The old formula can scare the wits out of someone who is merely in some danger of dying; it's not a death sentence.

But once it transmutes into some vague sign of "healing", then everyone wants to get in on the act. And so, as Fr Zuhlsdorf says, it is doled out "frivolously – sometimes very frivolously ... I have seen regularly scheduled Masses for seniors wherein everyone, including the young people who brought the seniors, troops up to be anointed. This is an abuse of the sacrament."

Indeed. But you trying telling that to some Tabletista schoolteacher in Arundel and Brighton. It's probably the most the priest can do to stop her administering the "sacrament" herself, since in my experience many Futurechurch enthusiasts believe they have healing powers.

As Fr Z argues, there is a case for administering the sacrament to anyone, particularly an older person, about to undergo general anaesthetic, even for a minor operation. But where do you draw the line?

Some Magic Circle folk think it's OK for someone with a sprained ankle to go forward for the Last Rites (only they don't use that term). In which case, I want them too. For nausea induced by drinking Fairtrade coffee.