Last Rites for Non-Repentant

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If someone has been away from the church after Baptism and Confirmation and are now are now dying, but confused due to Dementia, does giving them “last rites” work? Asking because I ran into this situation this weekend. Family wantsthem to have the Sacrament.

Thanks.
 
Confusion and dementia run a very wide spectrum. Even someone who is non-responsive can receive the Sacrament of the Annointing of the Sick and deserves prayer. Just because someone seemed “non-repentent” in the past is no reason to write him off. Pray for him and leave it to God.
 
The “last rites” should be given. No one can determine just how repentant the dying person may be or how repentant they have truly been during their life. These rites will strengthen them spiritually for the final battle ahead. Don’t let the concerns about dementia worry you either. God will take care of that and understands it far more than we do.

Just 4 weeks short of her death my grandmother was slipping in and out of a coma, talking to deceased relatives and awake no more than 3-4 hours a day. Still she asked to be baptized into the Catholic Church. Our Pastor came the next day and she was back in a coma. He baptized her and gave her the last rites in her bed at home.

The next day she came out of her coma state and asked me: “Did I make a mistake?” I asked her what she meant. She said in reply: “Well now that I am a Catholic do I have to join a convent?” This from a 91 year old woman who never followed the teachings of any Church except the Episcapol Church she belonged to as a little girl, and who criticized the Catholic Church more than any other Church that existed.

Now how did she know she was baptized, if at the time she was unconscious in a coma? She lived another 3 weeks and died peacefully a few days after my birthday.
 
“Last rites”?

do you mean anointing and/or reconciliation and Eucharist?

“Last rites” is often a inaccurate or even fallacious term.
 
I would have the priest administer the Anointing. I would not want to see anyone pass on without this last Sacrament. God bless the family.
 
Neofight said:
“Last rites”?

do you mean anointing and/or reconciliation and Eucharist?

“Last rites” is often a inaccurate or even fallacious term.
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I understand. I used to say “Sacrament of the Sick / Anointing, Reconcilliation, Viaticum”, but after years of everyone calling it “last rites” I just figured it’s the vernacular. Thanks for mentioning it though.

I’ll give a little more of the situation. I work for a hospice and we signed this man on yesterday. During the admission process, I asked the daughter if the man practiced a faith. She said he was Catholic, but never practiced the faith. A couple hours later our nurse called the daughter to say the man was declining. The daughter wanted us to arrange for a Priest to see him for the Sacraments. It’s actually a more common than not situation (unfortunately).

I’m sure it was as much for her comfort knowing a Catholic Priest had seen him. It just raised the question as to what the practical / theological answer would be so I asked. The question is if he was conscious and made a deathbed repentance of course it would be valid and appropriate. My thought was, since he is very confused, not knowing his daughter confused, and unresponsive, what would the churches teaching be on the situation.

btw~The priest will see him just after Mass today which is probably right now.

And if anyone wants to pray for Thomas, I’m sure it would help.

PAX
 
Lord, be with Thomas and welcome him into your loving embrace of everlasting life offered through the blood of your Son.

Only those who have died know the mysteries of your justice, and if it should be your will to end the earthly life of Thomas, I pray, and ask the Saints and all your Holy Church to join me in this prayer to raise the hope of salvation for our brother, promised in the covenant you have made with us, and by the grace coming from the sacraments instituted by our savior.

Amen
 
Neofight said:
“Last rites”?

do you mean anointing and/or reconciliation and Eucharist?

“Last rites” is often a inaccurate or even fallacious term.
Click to expand...
It is neither.

If the situation is such that this will be (or is reasonably expected to be) the very last time that a Catholic will receive the Rites of the Church, then the term “Last Rites” is indeed appropriate. When a person is described as “now dying” that means that the term “Last Rites” is the appropriate choice of words.

The Last Rites are:
Confession (or at least the minimal form of sacramental absolution)
Unction (aka Anointing)
Holy Communion (in this case, Viaticum)
The Apostolic Pardon

What is fallacious is to say: “do you mean…?” when a person asks about the Last Rites of the Church.
It’s called a loaded question.

It’s also called an “error of fact”–2 of them.

The term “last rites” is a perfectly legitimate term, and still in use by the Church.
It’s an error of fact because “last rites” has not been replaced by Anointing & Eucharist—rather, Anointing and Eucharist are 2 parts that form the whole of the Last Rites, as they always have done.
 
ChurchSoldier said:
If someone has been away from the church after Baptism and Confirmation and are now are now dying, but confused due to Dementia, does giving them “last rites” work? Asking because I ran into this situation this weekend. Family wantsthem to have the Sacrament.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
On the one hand, a priest may not give the Last Rites to one who has left the Church and remains unrepentant. However, if the priest has any founded hope (even the slightest) that the person wants the Last Rites, along with some reason to believe that the person is repentant (even if that might not be expressed in words or gestures at the moment), then the priest may administer the Last Rites.

The point is that what someone should do in a situation like this is to contact the local priest, explain the situation to him, and give him the opportunity to make the Rites available. Only the priest who is actually present and able to assess the situation for himself can make that determination.

Calling the priest (and doing so as soon as possible) is certainly the right thing to do.
 
ChurchSoldier said:
If someone has been away from the church after Baptism and Confirmation and are now are now dying, but confused due to Dementia, does giving them “last rites” work? Asking because I ran into this situation this weekend. Family wants them to have the Sacrament.

Thanks.
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Seems that if this fallen away Catholic is willing to make a contrite confession, the Anointing could be given. If there has been a loss of reason, then was the person interested in receiving it before that?

Latin Catholic Canon Law CIC
Canon 1006
This sacrament is to be conferred upon sick persons who requested it at least implicitly when they were in control of their faculties.

Canon 1007
The anointing of the sick is not to be conferred upon those who persevere obstinately in manifest grave sin.
Eastern Catholic Canon Law CCEO
Canon 737.1
By the sacramental anointing of the sick with prayers of a priest, the Christian faithful who are gravely ill and sincerely contrite receive grace, by which, strengthened by the hope of eternal reward and absolved from sins, they are disposed to correct their lives and are helped in patiently enduring their infirmity and suffering.

Canon 740
Christian faithful who are gravely ill, who lack consciousness or the use of reason, are presumed to want this sacrament to be administered to them in danger of death or even at another time according to the judgment of the priest.
 
ChurchSoldier said:
If someone has been away from the church after Baptism and Confirmation and are now are now dying, but confused due to Dementia, does giving them “last rites” work? Asking because I ran into this situation this weekend. Family wantsthem to have the Sacrament.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
The person still deserves an anointing.
 
FrDavid96 said:
On the one hand, a priest may not give the Last Rites to one who has left the Church and remains unrepentant. However, if the priest has any founded hope (even the slightest) that the person wants the Last Rites, along with some reason to believe that the person is repentant (even if that might not be expressed in words or gestures at the moment), then the priest may administer the Last Rites.

The point is that what someone should do in a situation like this is to contact the local priest, explain the situation to him, and give him the opportunity to make the Rites available. Only the priest who is actually present and able to assess the situation for himself can make that determination.

Calling the priest (and doing so as soon as possible) is certainly the right thing to do.
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Thanks for the clarification and education.
 
The other posters have covered the points very well. I would just like to share how God can work through the most severe brain damage to work.

A fallen away Catholic very confused and near death’s door, agreed to see a priest but would not have been physically able to make a confession, probably would have forgotten and not understood the anointing. Weeks later she begged her daughter to say her prayers for her as she could not because of the madness that attacked her, started to join in the prayers said at her bedside by a visiting Sister (depending on her mood and awareness). She needed a lot of reassurance that the Church doors were not locked and that she could walk in any time. She also demanded the return of her rosary and has (in her mind) attended a number of masses.

She fell away (but did not reject God or the faith) and it is too late for her to make any coherent confession to a priest, but God works miracles and it seems that He is working in her soul. How else could she be word prefect when saying prayers, when she cannot remember her last meal, the places she traveled, the people she met or what she did in her life? God works in mysterious ways and has no limits unlike us. Brain damage maybe beyond repair, but surely the soul is not, especially as there is but one true healer of souls and He works mysteriously.

PS. Before anyone gets excited about the daughter praying the prayers for her mother, it was resolved through spiritual guidance
 
FrDavid96 said:
That’s what we do not know.

Might I suggest this:
The person deserves an opportunity for the anointing.

What say you?
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No, not really. Anointing is a sacrament;sacraments provide grace. Nobody, deserves the opportunity nor the grace. It is freely given despite our shortcomings and undeserving nature.
 
In the last rites of the dying, if the person is catholic and cannot speak, they should be given absolution. Sometimes a disident catholic is sorry they will go to hell for what they’ve done, and this is enough for the sacrament to take effect in forgiving them their sins.

Always get Father to the bedside of a catholic, especially for catholics who have been away from the church. Unless they absolutely hate the church and want nothing to do with it, always have Father give them at least the absolution.

Why do people hesitate to call the priest? That is why he became a priest, to save those that need to be saved. Call him. This is extremely important.

I once knew of a catholic in the hospital who had no reason to be alive her condition was so grave. I asked one of her relatives if she had seen a priest yet, and he said he didn’t think anyone had called one yet. Then I offered to call one for her, and he said he would take care of it right away. No sooner had the priest given her the absolution, she passed. She was probably hanging on for that very reason. Please call a priest and let him make any decissions.
 
I have a sort of related question.

What if an unbaptized, unrepentant person is dying, and is baptized against their will and dies before being able to sin again? Does baptism forgive sins regardless of the disposition of the person? Babies receive baptism without asking for it, although, they haven’t really sinned either.
 
laircy said:
I have a sort of related question.

What if an unbaptized, unrepentant person is dying, and is baptized against their will and dies before being able to sin again? Does baptism forgive sins regardless of the disposition of the person? Babies receive baptism without asking for it, although, they haven’t really sinned either.
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Infant baptism removes the stain of original sin, although they have no actual sins.
Implicit desire of the adult for Baptism, expressed by the adult and known to the priest, is sufficient. If the will is against it, then it is not received.
CIC Can. 865
§2. An adult in danger of death can be baptized if, having some knowledge of the principal truths of the faith, the person has manifested in any way at all the intention to receive baptism and promises to observe the commandments of the Christian religion.
 
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