Article V. On Confession of the Dying

I. A dying person can be absolved who gives a sign of confession to the priest present, for example by a nod of the head, pressure of the hands, the eyes, etc. For all things required for validity, namely intention, manifested contrition, and confession, are present, or at least by law are presumed to be present.¹

II. Likewise a dying person deprived of the senses can be absolved who showed a desire of confession before the priest approached.²

It is disputed whether in this case the dying person is to be absolved absolutely or under condition. Several think that he is to be absolved absolutely, because the Roman Ritual, in the cited place, seems to equate this case with the prior case and makes no mention of a condition. Others teach that absolution must be given under condition, because the accusation required for the validity of the sacrament is not certainly present, and consequently one can also doubt about the disposition (St. Alphonsus, VI, 481).

III. A dying person deprived of the senses, who neither gives a manifest sign of confession to the priest present, nor showed a desire of confession before the arrival of the priest, can be absolved under condition, whenever it is somewhat probable that the things required for validity are present. For in extremities, extreme things are to be tried. Now commonly the intention of receiving the sacrament is not certainly lacking, and perhaps some sign of confession and sorrow is exhibited by the dying person, for example a sigh, although the priest does not notice it. Added to this is that the doctrine is not certainly false which teaches that internal contrition alone, or internal attrition alone, is the necessary condition for the validity of the sacrament. Hence the following can be absolved: 1. a Catholic, whether he lived in a Christian manner or did not live in a Christian manner; 2. a Catholic who is deprived of the senses in the very act of sin, for example drunkenness or suicide; 3. an apostate who before his defection did not reject the priest, because, placed in extreme danger, he perhaps came to his senses; 4. one concerning whom it is doubted whether or not he is Catholic (St. Alphonsus, VI, 482, 483).

Observe that hearing commonly persists longer than the other senses; hence let the priest address the dying person in a loud voice, and suggest to him a general accusation and an act of contrition.

¹ Council of Orange I, chapter 12 (in Labbe, vol. 4, col. 703 sq.); Council of Carthage IV, chapter 76 (in Labbe, cited place, col. 1443; cf. canon Is qui 8, cause 26, question 6); St. Leo the Pope, Epistle 108 (otherwise 83) to Theodore, chapter 5 (in Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 54, col. 1013 sq.); Roman Ritual, title III, chapter 1, n. 25.

² Council of Orange I, chapter 12 (in Labbe, vol. 4, col. 703 sq.); Council of Carthage IV, chapter 76 (in Labbe, cited place, col. 1443; cf. canon Is qui 8, cause 26, question 6); St. Leo the Pope, Epistle 108 (otherwise 83) to Theodore, chapter 5 (in Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 54, col. 1013 sq.); Roman Ritual, title III, chapter 1, n. 25.

Question 1. Whether one can be absolved who, before he was deprived of the senses, rejected the priest.

Response. Having regard to the reverence due to the sacrament, it is better, as it seems, not to absolve him, unless the privation of the senses lasts rather long, or the dying person gives a sign which with some probability can be held as a declaration of a changed will.

Question 2. How often a dying person can be absolved.

Response 1. "While the sick person is still vigorous in his senses, it will help for absolution to be conferred on him several times after a brief reconciliation.

Response 2. "If the sick person now lacks the senses, it is not expedient that absolution be imparted to him more often within the same day. But in this matter the priest ought to direct himself by the conscience which they know of the sick person; for if he was habituated in evil thoughts, if he is dying from some wound, or is ensnared by some passion of hatred or impure love; if the illness is exceedingly bitter and he does not suffer with a willing spirit, then absolution can be given more often; but otherwise it suffices that a space of three or four hours intervene; more frequently, however, if he is already now about to die" (St. Alphonsus, Praxis Confessarii, n. 276).

Note. "It will not be beside the point to warn the sick person, while he is in possession of his mind, that, if he cannot speak, he should give some determinate sign while he seeks absolution, or while the priest wishes to confer it on him: for example, let him close or open his eyes, raise his hand, incline his head, and the like" (St. Alphonsus, Praxis Confessarii, n. 276).

IV. The apparently dead.¹ The instant of death, or of the separation of the soul from the body, can be determined by no one. As regards signs that death has followed, not even cadaveric rigidity, but only advanced putrefaction, is held as a certain sign of death. There have been and there are physicians who think that not only in a case of asphyxia, but also in other cases, life persists latently for some time after the ordinary signs of life have ceased; and this both in sudden cases and when disease has had its ordinary outcome.² As regards sudden cases, it is reported that several apparently dead persons have returned to the activity of life. As regards ordinary disease, they rely especially on experiments in higher animals. Therefore, having regard to those things which are asserted by some physicians, and which are not to be held as certainly false, it seems one must speak as follows:

1. In a case in which someone has died, apparently, whether from a sudden accident or from a disease which lasted for a brief time, it is strongly to be advised that the necessary sacraments - more safely first Extreme Unction, then Absolution - be administered under condition, and this even two or more hours after someone seems to have died.

2. In a case in which someone seems to have died in the ordinary way, they say that latent life commonly persists for a shorter time, say for a quarter hour or a half hour; hence during that time it is licit to administer the necessary sacraments.

3. Where there is suspicion that a case of asphyxia is present, a still longer time is admitted for administering the sacraments. Such a case can occur after uremia, epilepsy, and other diseases, concerning which Antonelli³ and Capellmann-Bergmann⁴ speak.

¹ Cf. Ferreres-Geniesse, La mort réelle et la mort apparente, et leurs rapports avec l'administration des Sacrements; Revue de Lille, 1905-1906, p. 442 sq., 481 sq.; Nouv. Rev. Théol., 1906, p. 606 sq.; 1907, p. 497 sq.

² Cf. Lacroix, De Poenitentia, VI, n. 1104.

³ Antonelli, Medicina pastoralis, II, n. 612 sq.

⁴ Capellmann-Bergmann, Pastoral-Medizin, p. 358 sq.