Question — Noldin, Summa of Moral Theology
Question Four. Concerning the Minister of Extreme Unction.
439. The Minister of Extreme Unction is every priest and only a priest, which was expressly defined by the Council of Trent;1 for St. James had said that the priests of the Church should be brought in, who should pray over the sick man.
Every priest can validly confer the sacrament of extreme unction; for to administer this sacrament validly jurisdiction is not required, but only the power of order, which belongs to every priest, even one excommunicated, suspended, or degraded.
The ordinary minister is the parish priest of the place in which the sick man lives; but in a case of necessity, and with the at least reasonably presumed permission of the same parish priest or ordinary, any priest can administer this sacrament.2
a. The simply reserved excommunication which up to this point a regular incurred who, outside a case of necessity, administered this sacrament without the permission of the parish priest or ordinary, has been removed by the new Code.
b. In a case of necessity, namely if the parish priest is absent, or unjustly refuses to minister the sacrament, or is bound by excommunication or suspension, any priest can, from the presumed permission of the bishop, and from charity also ought, to administer this sacrament.
- To regulars and to those who are of their household extreme unction is conferred by the regular superior, or by him whom he shall have deputed. Regulars can administer this sacrament also to those who remain in their house day and night for the sake of hospitality or infirm health.3
1 Sess. 14, c. 3 and can. 4, De extr. unct. Cn. 938, 1.
2 Cn. 938, 2.
3 Cn. 514, 1.
440. Concerning the Mode of Administering. This sacrament must be administered according to the mode described in the Roman Ritual. On this matter the following must be noted:
To administer it without any sacred vestment, that is, without surplice and stole, is a grave sin, except in a case of necessity in which otherwise the sick man would die without this sacrament.
To omit either all the prayers prescribed in the Ritual or a notable part of them is a grave sin, except again in a case of necessity.
To administer this sacrament without a light is a light sin; there are, however, those who think this is no sin.1
To omit the sign of the cross to be made in the individual anointings is venial.
To administer the sacrament without a minister, even where a minister could be had, probably is not a sin.
1 Cf. Gury-Ballerini II, n. 498, note.
441. Obligation of Ministering Extreme Unction.1 1. He who is pastor is bound from office or from justice, and indeed under grave obligation, to minister this sacrament, either by himself or through another, to his subjects who ask for it, unless a just cause excuses him. And he is bound to this even with grave inconvenience, indeed with danger of life, if this sacrament is the only means of eternal salvation, which happens when the sick man is judged to be in the state of mortal sin, if, for example, he has not confessed for a long time, or he could be absolved only conditionally, as one destitute of his senses.
Therefore in time of contagious disease the parish priest is not bound to anoint the sick who were able to confess, if this cannot be done without danger of life; and because probable danger of life from contagion in this case is always present, it can be said absolutely that the parish priest is not bound to administer this sacrament. But to those who certainly could not receive valid absolution and cannot provide for themselves, he is bound to administer this sacrament even with danger of contagion.
Indeed from the Roman Catechism (q. 9) the parish priest who delays the administration of this sacrament until the last time of life, when the sick man is already beginning to be deprived of the use of senses and reason, sins gravely. For the Catechism judges that grave harm is brought to the sick man if the administration of this sacrament is deferred until that time when death is now near at hand; for besides the fact that the sick man is exposed to danger of dying without this sacrament, he is deprived of several effects of it, namely special help in the last agony and perhaps also healing of the body. Therefore, "With all zeal and diligence care must be taken that the sick receive it while they are fully in possession of themselves."2
- He who is not pastor, from charity and therefore in common necessity under light obligation, but in extreme necessity, namely if the sick man who is in mortal sin would otherwise die without any sacrament, under grave obligation, is bound to minister this sacrament; for since extreme unction in this case is the only means of salvation, charity under grave obligation requires that this be furnished to the neighbor.
1 Cn. 939.
2 Cn. 944.