Canon 1005 of the present code (1983) says the sacrament is to be administered when there is a doubt whether the sick person has attained the use of reason, whether the person is dangerously ill, or whether the person is dead.
That canon is essentially the same as was the “general instruction” in the
Rituale Romanum in effect in 1962. I presume it still agrees with the “general instruction” in the post-conciliar
Rituale Romanum, and it raises an old wound:
My father passed on in 1997 in hospital the middle of the night, which was somewhat unexpected. As it happened, when the hospital staff called us (as well as the Latin Rite priest who was on call) he was still alive. In the short time it took us (and the priest) to get to the hospital (about 15 minutes), he had expired, and the priest absolutely refused to administer the anointing. I was livid and demanded the anointing, using almost the exact same words that bpbasilphx used:
bpbasilphx:
At least before Vatican 2, the Anointing … may be done as soon after death as possible, as nobody knows how long the soul might hang around the body.
That is the way it was when I studied theology and liturgy, and I can say that the principle behind it is very ancient, very humane, and theologically sound.
The priest looked at me as if I were from Mars and made some remark to the effect of “well, it’s not done that way anymore.” I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of using the post-conciliar ritual in the first place, but was resigned to it, and we didn’t even get that. Of course, had it been 10 years later, “
Summorum Pontificum” would have trumped the curate. As one might expect, that nasty comment left a bad taste in this Easterner’s mouth.
