A Question

[poche]

Where I live , there are areas where there is no priest or parish. They tell us that when someone is sick and dying , we must go to the priest who is assigned to the parish in the area where the hospital is located . I know of situations where people were in the hospital. Once the man was dying. They called the priest and asked him the last rites. The priest in the nearest city refused to leave because the hospital in question was not in his parish. The problem is that there was no church or resident Catholic priest in this area.
Another time , my sister had to go to the hospital. She said she wanted to go to confession. I searched for the parish where the hospital and I asked the priest to go and hear her confession. He refused to go.
There were times when I went to a Catholic church in the regular hours for the confession and the priest did not come .
One of those moments , me and another woman who had brought her children to confession went to the rectory and asked the priest to hear our confessions and he refused.
In these cases, it is possible to go to a priest as schismatic SSPX ?

 

[ClearWater]

Where I live , there are areas where there is no priest or parish. They tell us that when someone is sick and dying , we must go to the priest who is assigned to the parish in the area where the hospital is located . I know of situations where people were in the hospital. Once the man was dying. They called the priest and asked him the last rites. The priest in the nearest city refused to leave because the hospital in question was not in his parish. The problem is that there was no church or resident Catholic priest in this area.
Another time , my sister had to go to the hospital. She said she wanted to go to confession. I searched for the parish where the hospital and I asked the priest to go and hear her confession. He refused to go.
There were times when I went to a Catholic church in the regular hours for the confession and the priest did not come .
One of those moments , me and another woman who had brought her children to confession went to the rectory and asked the priest to hear our confessions and he refused.
In these cases, it is possible to go to a priest as **schismatic SSPX **?

No! It’s never okay to go to a church that’s in schism.

Incidentally, where do you live?

I just did a thread on this, yesterday, titled, “Thanksgiving” where I was most grateful for having Catholic parents, being raised Catholic, and having a priest I can access!

I wouldn’t know how to live like that, without being able to receive the sacraments!

God bless you for trying so hard!

How lucky the rest of us are! Today, of all days, we need to be thanks for our faith AND priests, churches! May we never, ever, take them for granted!

 

[JRKH]

I would have to say no it is not acceptable to go to a schismatic priest in these cases.

What I would suggest is that you relate this problem to your local bishop and ask him for guidance on the matter.

As far as those who were unable to receive the sacraments…The desire was there as was the effort. This counts much more than the actual rite itself - even though the rite is important.

Be at peace

James

 

[GPGT]

Since when has the SSPX been in schism? Just believing something doesn’t make it fact. I would certainly use one of their validly ordained priests in an emergency if I’d exhausted all other options (including telling the other priest and/or the bishop I would do this if necessary) over not getting a priest at all, or if my only option was that or a Protestant minister.

 

[Lasting_faith]

To my humble understanding SSPX is not in full communion with The Vatican for reasons I believe we all know and that is not important in this case.

Dear OP. A priest has as his duty to go where God want him to go and also to serve all people, not only Catholics, as good as he ever can and know. Of course he foremost duty is to serve Catholics but also when there is time, everyone who is in need of a priest. And this is not only the duty of a Catholic priests, every priest no matter what Church they may serve have the same obligation. A priest simply can not say “no” unless it is absolutely impossible to do his duty as a priest. (What those circumstances may be I leave you to figure out by your self.)

In these examples you have provided us with it is absolutely against what a priest can do. There are really no excuses he can come up with so I urge you to contact your local Bishop and tell him what you wrote on this forum. He will deal with it according to the Canon law.

 

[bben15]

I would say it is only acceptable to use an SSPX priest in the case of an emergency, especially when you can’t get a priest in good standing with Rome.

However, you should only allow the SSPX priest to hear the dying person’s confession and grant him absolution. Canon Law gives him the authority to impart absolution in danger of death. In good standing or not, he is a valid priest, and can impart valid absolution. However, he is not allowed to anoint the sick or give Holy Communion.

 

[Casilda]

I just did a thread on this, yesterday, titled, “Thanksgiving” where I was most grateful for having Catholic parents, being raised Catholic, and having a priest I can access!

I wouldn’t know how to live like that, without being able to receive the sacraments!

God bless you for trying so hard!

How lucky the rest of us are! Today, of all days, we need to be thanks for our faith AND priests, churches! May we never, ever, take them for granted!

exactly, it is like being in a thick fog, you reach out and nothing is there.

As far as those who were unable to receive the sacraments…The desire was there as was the effort. This counts much more than the actual rite itself - even though the rite is important.

Be at peace

James

Courage, hope (?) both gone

 

[digitalpapist]

Since when has the SSPX been in schism? Just believing something doesn’t make it fact. I would certainly use one of their validly ordained priests in an emergency if I’d exhausted all other options (including telling the other priest and/or the bishop I would do this if necessary) over not getting a priest at all, or if my only option was that or a Protestant minister.

My understanding is that any validly ordained Catholic priest has emergency faculties to hear confession in an in extremis situation, according to Can. 986.

Dying in the hospital certainly counts, imo.

And you are correct, the SSPX is not in schism.

 

[corsair]

Those who said “No” are wrong. Of course it is acceptable. They have been validly ordained, but are illicit. They are NOT schismatic. They do not have faculties to say Mass but they can administer the rites when no other priest is available.

 

[poche]

I would have to say no it is not acceptable to go to a schismatic priest in these cases.

What I would suggest is that you relate this problem to your local bishop and ask him for guidance on the matter.

As far as those who were unable to receive the sacraments…The desire was there as was the effort. This counts much more than the actual rite itself - even though the rite is important.

Be at peace

James

Would a letter to the bishop make the dead person any less dead? Would it shorten his time in Purgatory?

 

[poche]

No! It’s never okay to go to a church that’s in schism.

Incidentally, where do you live?

I just did a thread on this, yesterday, titled, “Thanksgiving” where I was most grateful for having Catholic parents, being raised Catholic, and having a priest I can access!

I wouldn’t know how to live like that, without being able to receive the sacraments!

God bless you for trying so hard!

How lucky the rest of us are! Today, of all days, we need to be thanks for our faith AND priests, churches! May we never, ever, take them for granted!

I too am thankful that you can have a priest come to you when you are dying. I am asking about circumstances when the priest refuses to come to the sick and the dying when it is inconvenient for him. You mean to say that the person will have a lower place in Hell if a schismatic priest comes to him than if he dies without the sacraments that he is asking for?

 

[poche]

To my humble understanding SSPX is not in full communion with The Vatican for reasons I believe we all know and that is not important in this case.

Dear OP. A priest has as his duty to go where God want him to go and also to serve all people, not only Catholics, as good as he ever can and know. Of course he foremost duty is to serve Catholics but also when there is time, everyone who is in need of a priest. And this is not only the duty of a Catholic priests, every priest no matter what Church they may serve have the same obligation. A priest simply can not say “no” unless it is absolutely impossible to do his duty as a priest. (What those circumstances may be I leave you to figure out by your self.)

In these examples you have provided us with it is absolutely against what a priest can do. There are really no excuses he can come up with so I urge you to contact your local Bishop and tell him what you wrote on this forum. He will deal with it according to the Canon law.

but in the meantime?

 

[Lasting_faith]

but in the meantime?

Yes, in the meantime, good question, no good answer available except for maybe call around to the closest parishes and ask if they have a answer. I still fail to understand how a priest can say no.

 

[poche]

Yes, in the meantime, good question, no good answer available except for maybe call around to the closest parishes and ask if they have a answer. I still fail to understand how a priest can say no.

The reason that I was told in two of the situations was that the hospital was outside of the parish. The problem for me is that the hospitals in question were located in counties where there was no Catholic Church at the time and parish in question was the closest to the hospital in question. In one instance the emergency workers were very upset. In that instance the family offered to arrange ttansportation for the priest to come to the hospital and he refused.

 

[catholicguy23]

I would say the answer is yes, In emergencies you can. Having said that they must be real emergencies like the ones you mentioned above. I know plenty of traditionalists who claim they are unable to receive the sacraments from non-sspx priests due to distance or illness when really they simply don’t want to receive the sacraments from novus ordo priests.

 

[JRKH]

Would a letter to the bishop make the dead person any less dead? Would it shorten his time in Purgatory?

You have come here, presented a problem and asked for guidance.
Since we do not know where you are - or the specifics of the situations and circumstances - the best advice is that you notify the local bishop of the things you have shared with us and ask for his guidance on these matters. That is what he is there for.

but in the meantime?

In the meantime you comfort the dying as best you can and trust to the mercy of God.

Peace
James

 

[Lasting_faith]

Yes, without any hint of where you are we can’t do much more then we have.

Have trust in God. In a situation like this I think He will understand. God bless.

 

[ccmcmg]

The reason that I was told in two of the situations was that the hospital was outside of the parish. The problem for me is that the hospitals in question were located in counties where there was no Catholic Church at the time and parish in question was the closest to the hospital in question. In one instance the emergency workers were very upset. In that instance the family offered to arrange ttansportation for the priest to come to the hospital and he refused.

Please remember that you do not know the priest’s side of the story. Could it be he was at a parishioner’s bedside as he was dying and could not leave? There could be any number of reasons, some of them, legitimate ones. Even if you were to ask the priest directly, it could be that he is not able to divulge what you might consider motives for him not coming.

Some years ago, I had some issues with liturgical/Mass abuses; I spoke with the correct people, including the priest and then later, the liturgy director of the diocese. I have learned that what was going on behind the scenes was not as it ‘appeared’ to me (in their perceived lack of action of correcting these abuses). It seemed like they were doing ‘nothing’ and didn’t care; however, more was being done that they could not share with me. While they could have shared enough to assure me that something was being done, they didn’t. But that’s why I say that there is probably more going on than meets the eye…or the ears, especially with one side of the story in the hospital case.