How do I help my mortally-ill father-in-law?

[OldeThom]

My father-in-law had a massive stroke three days ago. He had surgery on his brain to relieve the swelling. He is in critical but stable condition at a local hospital. Three years ago he had quintuple bypass surgery. He is confused and disoriented. His speech center is affected as well as memory, but he is aware of events and the people around him. His heart may be failing and his blood pressure is sky high. He is in 70s.

I know he is scared and fears for his mortal soul (I fear for his mortal soul), though I am sure he would not admit to that. He was baptized in the Catholic Church and up until his wife divorced him (in the mid-1960s) he went to Mass. He has layers and layers of anger, anguish, and ambivalence in his life now and has amassed quite a bit of wealth and lives well beyond an ordinary man’s means. To my knowledge he has not gone to Mass or confession since that divorce (he has since re-married to a “devout” hedonist and not a Christian; his first wife was Methodist, but they were married in the Church.) I would like a priest to see him and talk with him, though I am not sure of the protocol these days.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Call the hospital chaplain’s office at the hospital where your father-in-law is being treated and ask that they arrange for a Catholic priest to visit your father-in-law. If possible, ask them to put you in touch with the priest before he visits so that you can give the priest the necessary background (i.e., what you have described here). We will keep you, your father-in-law, and your family in prayer. God bless.