Anointing of the sick for a person not Baptized

[davleemye]

I have a relationship with Jesus, but never a church member. Simply saved by faith. I had a serious stroke awhile ago and was rushed by ambulance to a Catholic hospital. After a brain scan I was told I was in for a very long night with uncertain outcome. I was asked if I wished for a priest to talk to and was told by a man there that a person who is unbaptized can not receive anointing of the sick. Just a blessing. During the night I was transferred by ambulance to another hospital. During three weeks in still another hospital, only a lady from the Unitarian church nearby prayed with me. Trying to understand the Catholic faith, this really concerns me. Becoming a Catholic takes 1-2 years RCIA. I am told to trust the protestant faith of salvation which I have and not take a chance.

 

[TK421]

A person can immediately receive God’s grace and forgiveness by earnestly praying for it (this is known as an act of perfect contrition) and they can receive a blessing.

I am sorry that nobody else was there to pray for you.

Becoming a Catholic takes time, but that is because it is so important and so beautiful. Many such things take time, such as a wedding, or conceiving a child and giving birth, or a graduation, etc. The person uses that time to pray and be instructed in the faith and deepen their love for God.

Peace.

 

[1ke]

emphasized text

I was asked if I wished for a priest to talk to and was told by a man there that a person who is unbaptized can not receive anointing of the sick.

That is correct. Baptism is the gateway to all other sacraments.

Trying to understand the Catholic faith, this really concerns me.

What, specifically concerns you?

Becoming a Catholic takes 1-2 years RCIA.

It can, yes. But a priest has discretion in danger of death.

am told to trust the protestant faith of salvation which I have and not take a chance

Told to trust by whom and what do you mean by “not take a chance”?

Can. 1183 §1. When it concerns funerals, catechumens must be counted among the Christian faithful.

 

[Kima]

You can become Catholic right away if you´re really sick and desire to convert right away. Then you can be both baptized and annointed.

 

[TomH1]

Becoming a Catholic takes 1-2 years RCIA. I am told to trust the protestant faith of salvation which I have and not take a chance.

Yes, it does in normal circumstances. The Church has been around a long time and is very experienced in these things. Provision is made for emergencies. In a life-threatening situation a priest could baptise and confirm you, anoint you and give you Viaticum. Do not doubt the mercy of the Church,

God is not bound by the rules that bind us regarding the sacraments. He knows what is written on your heart. He would not cast you in to hell simply because you had not completed RCIA. Trust in the mercy of the Church but put greater trust in the mercy of God.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Baptism is the gateway to all of the other Sacraments. In fact, a person who has been baptized but has not yet reached the age of reason cannot receive anointing of the sick.

Entering the Church takes as long as your priest feels it ought to take. Some RCIA preparation classes do last the best part of a year, other people come into the Church through private instruction with a priest.

When one is in a hospital with a Catholic chaplain on staff, that chaplain will visit as often as possible with everyone, regardless of their baptismal status or faith affiliation.

 

[Catholic361]

I broke my lower left leg and had a woman who came in and prayed with me but she wasn’t catholic and I didn’t see a priest while I was in the hospital even though I had put down that my religion is/was catholic is this normal practice she was not a nun. This happened this past summer.

 

[redal]

Put the legalism aside, and consider that you may have already received baptism through the baptism of desire…Our God is a merciful God, and you should (as Paul said in his letter to the Philippians) “Rejoice in the Lord always!”

Be at peace and rejoice!!

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Priests these days are often stretched very thin and unfortunately there is no guarantee that a priest is going to be available to come pray with you when you are in the hospital. Many times, hospital visits to people who are not in danger of death and needing anointing are carried out by lay visitors, and often they are only able to visit once a week. Also, I have had enough relatives in hospitals to know that sometimes the hospital staff are at fault for not passing the information along to the appropriate Catholic hospital visitors.

On the flip side I am aware of Catholic hospital and nursing home visitors who end up praying with people who are not Catholic because those people’s particular ministers have not been able to stop by and the non-Catholic person wishes to pray.

I am sorry when those who wish to pray are not able to connect with a priest or other Catholic visitor to pray with and it would be good if we had more people - probably laypeople, since like I said we do not have enough priests to do it all - engaged in this ministry.

 

[tafan2]

If one is terminally/seriously ill, I am pretty sure most priests would make arrangements for you to enter the Catholic Church by a means other that RCIA and the Easter Vigil. Make a call to a local parish.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

On the flip side I am aware of Catholic hospital and nursing home visitors who end up praying with people who are not Catholic because those people’s particular ministers have not been able to stop by and the non-Catholic person wishes to pray.

I am sorry when those who wish to pray are not able to connect with a priest or other Catholic visitor to pray with and it would be good if we had more people - probably laypeople, since like I said we do not have enough priests to do it all - engaged in this ministry.

The pastor of my parish, one of the finest priests the Church has ever had, and so “retro” in the wake of Vatican II that he made enemies constantly (must be where I get it ), always stopped by to visit my grandmother in the nursing home, and she was not Catholic. I had asked him to do so, and he was happy to oblige.

Even the most severely traditionalist Catholic priest would not disdain to visit with a shut-in of any religion or none, if requested by the person or their family.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Becoming a Catholic takes 1-2 years RCIA. I am told to trust the protestant faith of salvation which I have and not take a chance.

If you wished to become a Catholic, you would not be “taking a chance”. Let’s say you started the RCIA process and somehow did not manage to finish before you became terminally ill. One of two things would happen. If your illness was a progressive one where you linger over time, the priest would likely manage to “fast track” you into the Church so you became a member before you died. Alternatively, if you were to suddenly die, then God would recognize your efforts to join the Church and provide for you just as if you had managed to complete the whole process before death.

In addition, you will still have your relationship with Jesus when you get on the road to becoming Catholic. You don’t have to put it aside in order to join the Church.

If you want to become Catholic, start the process. You have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

My current parishes have somewhere between 5000 and 10,000 people in them. From a practical standpoint, even though both parishes have about 3 priests each, it is unlikely the priest would be able to visit everyone in the parish who is in the hospital or the nursing home during any given week. It may be more possible in smaller parishes.

 

[thistle]

Bit off topic but I never heard of RCIA being 1 - 2 years. My RCIA program took around 8 months.

 

[DarkLight]

If one is terminally/seriously ill, I am pretty sure most priests would make arrangements for you to enter the Catholic Church by a means other that RCIA and the Easter Vigil. Make a call to a local parish.

I’m pretty sure this is what they’re supposed to do, actually. Baptism should not be unduly delayed if someone is in danger of death, so long as they manifest consent and basic acceptance of Catholic teaching. The RCIA process is preferable, but not when someone is likely to die before the end!

 

[Catholic361]

You got lucky then . Mine was 2yrs and both times it was going on during the school year.

 

[Socrates92]

Put the legalism aside, and consider that you may have already received baptism through the baptism of desire…Our God is a merciful God, and you should (as Paul said in his letter to the Philippians) “Rejoice in the Lord always!”

Be at peace and rejoice!!

Just to be clear, this only covers in the case that he did die suddenly due to circumstances beyond his control. He is still obligated to go through with the normal means of becoming a Catholic with Baptism being the end goal, or alternatively to get baptised if possible should a “fast-track” be deemed necessary.

 

[Socrates92]

If you are in immediate danger of death, there is nothing stopping the priest from baptizing and anointing you (in that order) on the spot, provided that you give manifest assent to all the teachings of the faith.

 

[DarkLight]

For that matter, there’s nothing stopping anyone from baptizing you in immediate danger of death. Baptism remits both original and actual sin up to that point. So the forgiveness aspect of anointing of the sick is not needed at that time. (Only a priest can provide annointing.)

 

[Socrates92]

For that matter, there’s nothing stopping anyone from baptizing you in immediate danger of death. Baptism remits both original and actual sin up to that point. So the forgiveness aspect of anointing of the sick is not needed at that time.

True. Ideally it would be done by a priest, but if death is imminent, anyone, including a non-Catholic (or even non-Christian), can baptise. All that is required is the proper form of Baptism (“I baptise you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”), water, and belief on the part of the person being baptised.