Anointing of non cathloics

[thylton]

Are there any circumstance when non- Catholics may recieve the sacriment of anointing of the sick

 

[PaulfromIowa]

ewtn.com/expert/answers/anointing_of_the_sick.htm

…From the canons and the ritual it is clear that the sacrament may not be given indiscriminately. So, for example, the following may not receive, except where noted.

1. One who is not a baptized Catholic. Those who are not baptized may never receive. Baptized non-Catholics may not receive, unless the provisions of canon 844 and the norms of the local bishop and the bishops conference are met. For Orthodox Christians and other Churches with valid sacraments, canon 844, 3 provides that they:

    · ask for it on their own
    · be properly disposed.

For all other baptized Christians (Anglican, Lutheran and Protestant), canon 844, 4 states that the following conditions must be met:

    · danger of death or other grave necessity
    · inability to approach a minister of their own community
    · ask for it on their own
    · manifest Catholic faith in the sacraments
    · be properly disposed

Proper disposition for anyone who is conscious includes the confession of all mortal sins since the last good confession, or since baptism, if the person had never made a confession.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

Are there any circumstance when non- Catholics may recieve the sacriment of anointing of the sick

Yes. They are well delineated in canon 844.

*Can. 844 §1 Catholic ministers may lawfully administer the sacraments only to catholic members of Christ’s faithful, who equally may lawfully receive them only from catholic ministers, except as provided in §§2, 3 and 4 of this canon and in can. 861 §2.

§2 Whenever necessity requires or a genuine spiritual advantage commends it, and provided the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided, Christ’s faithful for whom it is physically or morally impossible to approach a catholic minister, may lawfully receive the sacraments of penance, the Eucharist and anointing of the sick from non-catholic ministers in whose Churches these sacraments are valid.

**§3 Catholic ministers may lawfully administer the sacraments of penance, the Eucharist and anointing of the sick to members of the eastern Churches not in full communion with the catholic Church, if they spontaneously ask for them and are properly disposed. The same applies to members of other Churches which the Apostolic See judges to be in the same position as the aforesaid eastern Churches so far as the sacraments are concerned.

§4 If there is a danger of death or if, in the judgement of the diocesan Bishop or of the Episcopal Conference, there is some other grave and pressing need, catholic ministers may lawfully administer these same sacraments to other christians not in full communion with the catholic Church, who cannot approach a minister of their own community and who spontaneously ask for them, provided that they demonstrate the catholic faith in respect of these sacraments and are properly disposed.**

§5 In respect of the cases dealt with in §§2, 3 and 4, the diocesan Bishop or the Episcopal Conference is not to issue general norms except after consultation with the competent authority, at least at the local level, of the non-catholic Church or community concerned. *

 

[FrDavid96]

Two documents further clarify canon 844

Redemptionis Sacramentum
[85.] Catholic ministers licitly administer the Sacraments only to the Catholic faithful, who likewise receive them licitly only from Catholic ministers, except for those situations for which provision is made in can. 844 §§ 2,3, and 4, and can. 861 § 2.[166] In addition, the conditions comprising can. 844 § 4, from which no dispensation can be given,[167] cannot be separated; thus, it is necessary that all of these conditions be present together.

And
Ecclesia de Eucharistia

1. In my Encyclical Ut Unum Sint I expressed my own appreciation of these norms, which make it possible to provide for the salvation of souls with proper discernment: “It is a source of joy to note that Catholic ministers are able, in certain particular cases, to administer the sacraments of the Eucharist, Penance and Anointing of the Sick to Christians who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church but who greatly desire to receive these sacraments, freely request them and manifest the faith which the Catholic Church professes with regard to these sacraments. Conversely, in specific cases and in particular circumstances, Catholics too can request these same sacraments from ministers of Churches in which these sacraments are valid”.97

These conditions, from which no dispensation can be given, must be carefully respected, even though they deal with specific individual cases, because the denial of one or more truths of the faith regarding these sacraments and, among these, the truth regarding the need of the ministerial priesthood for their validity, renders the person asking improperly disposed to legitimately receiving them. And the opposite is also true: Catholics may not receive communion in those communities which lack a valid sacrament of Orders.98

A few points to note:

1. All of the conditions of canon 844 must be met at the time. Sometimes they are presented (incorrectly) as either-or criteria. The first condition is danger of death or other grave necessity (the highest standards in canon law); but the other conditions must all be met, in addition to the first one. For example, a situation of danger-of-death without the condition that the person manifest Catholic faith in the sacraments does not meet the conditions of the canon.
2. The conditions cannot be dispensed–that means exactly what it says. All of the conditions must be met. No one can give permission to ignore or dismiss even one of those conditions.
3. St John Paul II explained that part of the criteria is that the person must believe “among these, the truth regarding the need of the ministerial priesthood for their validity.” That’s a pretty high standard.

 

[LoyalViews]

Back before the invention of Vatican II, my own grandfather who rested high in the Anglican sphere requested the Catholic last rites as he lay in bed at a Catholic hospital. He was granted permission, and the above canons are correct of course.

A lot of times what we see as a non-Catholic may indeed be a Catholic in pure belief and practise, just not a visible member of the communion - remark upon the word “visible.” I know some Salvationists who hold deeply to a Catholic theology, yet cannot gain membership of the Church because of family pressure. The pure desire of this yearning for truth alone, do we negate them?

I add this merely for contemplation, and the answer to your question is YES with those specific circumstances.

 

[Rosebud77]

From my first weeks in Ireland, and I arrived in time for Ash Wednesday, the first time I went to Knock Shrine, although then still Anglican, I was blessed and honoured in my overt life as a hermit to be welcomed by every Priest for communion,after we had talked and they knew all about my calling .