(b) Impurity.—The danger that a confessor will be tempted to solicitation by his knowledge of the frailty of a penitent is provided for by the law which severely commands formal denunciation of those guilty of solicitation (Canon 904); the danger that a penitent may be induced to yield to solicitation by a promise to absolve the sin is met by the law which invalidates absolution of an accomplice (Canon 884).
2770. Absolutio Complicis.—Absolutio complicis in peccato turpi invalida est praeterquam in mortis periculo (Canon 884).
(a) Objectum legis est peccatum turpe, i.e., quodvis peccatum contra sextum, consummatum vel non consummatum, colloquiis, aspectibus vel factis patratum. Necesse est autem quod peccatum sit utrinque certum (quoad factum et jus), externum, et grave (qua internum et qua externum). Unde non agitur de peccatis contra alias virtutes, neque de peccatis luxuriae mere internis vel levibus.
(b) Subjectum de quo in lege est complex seu socius immediatus et formalis in ipso actu peccati; et sic non sufficit ad complicitatem cooperatio etiam proxima (1507), nec peccatum mere materiale, quale fit ab amente, dormiente, ebrio, infante, renitente. Non requiritur tamen quod compar sit puber vel alius sexus, neque quod confessarius tempore complicitatis jam inter clericos adscriptus sit.
2771. Effectus Legis de Absolutione Complicis.—(a) Quoad Absalutionem.—Invalida et illicita est absolutio directa peccati nondum remissi si extra periculum mortis datur. Est valida sed illicita: absolutio directa peccati nondum remissi, in periculo mortis data, quando alius sacerdos confessionem recipere potest; necnon absolutio indirecta peccati nondum remissi, extra periculum mortis data, quando poenitens bona fide peccatum reticet. Est valida et licita absolutio directa peccati nondum remissi, in periculo mortis vel in gravissima necessitate (utputa urgente praecepto ecclesiastico et divino confessionis et communionis annuae) data, quando alius sacerdos aut nullimode aut nonnisi cum gravi incommodo (scil. infamiae, scandali, periculi confessionis sacrilegae) haberi potest; necnon absolutio directa peccati jam remissi, etiam extra hoc periculum et hanc necessitatem facta. Non una tamen est sententia auctorum in interpretandis dubiis hujus legis, nec omnes conveniunt cum placitis hic positis, nam de dubiis alii strictius, alii mitius judicant.
(b) Quoad Censuram.—Excommunicatio specialissime reservata S. Sedi ipso facto incurritur a confessario qui illicite absolvit vel fingit absolvere, sive directe, sive (quando poenitens ad tacendum inductus est a confessario ipso) indirecte. Censura non incurritur igitur si confessio tantum auditur, si poenitens propria sponte peccatum reticet, si sacerdos dubitat num poenitens complex sit (Canon 2367).
2772. Sacerdos reus delicti sollicitationis in confessione intra mensem denuntiandus est a poenitente loci Ordinario vel S.C.S. Officii (Canon 904).
(a) Delictum sollicitationis est provocatio, etiam inefficax, poenitentis eujuscumque ut actum quemcumque gravem contra castitatem committat. Provocatio fit vel per verba (e.g., declarationes amoris, invitationes, laudes), per facta (e.g., dona), per sermones (e.g., colloquia de turpibus a poenitente confessis), per tractatus (scil. colloquia de re turpi agenda), per consensum internum-externum sollicitationi poenitentis datum.
(b) Delictum sollicitationis est provocatio quae ordinem habet ad confessionem, i.e., quae fit tempore factae confessionis (i.e., inter, immediate ante, immediate post confessionem), vel tempore confessionis faciendae (i.e., occasione confessionis petitae a poenitente, praetextu confessionis falso allegatae a confessario, in loco confessionis cum confessionis simulatione).
2773. Confessarius debet, graviter onerata ejus conscientia, de onere denuntiationis poenitentem monere.
(a) Obligatio confessarii gravis est. Sed antequam moneat, serio consideret utrum poenitens persona fide digna sit, utrum certo constet de facto, de turpitudine, de gravitate, de ordine ad confessionem, utrum detur causa excusans (e.g., mors sollicitantis; probabiliter, ejus plena emendatio per plures annos manifestata; grave damnum poenitentis quoad vitam, famam, fortunam, nisi gravius damnum simul immineat bono communi). Si de delicto sollicitationis et de obligatione poenitentis nullum dubium est, confessarius moneat, etiamsi poenitens in bona fide sit et praevideatur certo non obtemperaturus, mortis periculo autem excepto. Si poenitens irrationabiliter renuat denuntiare, absolvi non potest, sed confessarius de casu consulere debet Ordinarium.
(b) Obligatio poenitentis etiam gravis est. Denuntiatio facienda est intra mensem a cognita obligatione., Ordinario sollicitantis, vel loci delicti, vel poenitentis, personaliter et judicialiter. Poenitens qui nec comparere nec scribere potest, interea excusatur; sed ille qui justa causa exemptionis carens scienter omittit denuntiare intra terminum unius mensis incurrit in excommunicationem latae sententiae nemini reservatum, non absolvendus nisi postquam obligationi satisfecerit aut se satisfacturum serio promiserit (Canon 2368, n. 2). Confessarius non tenetur in se suscipere onus denuntiationis, nisi secus gravissimum damnum bono publico inferretur.
2774. The Sacrament of Extreme Unction.—As Confirmation perfects Baptism by bringing to maturity the new life of grace, so Extreme Unction perfects Penance by strengthening against the spiritual debility that remains after sin itself has been wiped away. Confirmation makes ready for the battle of life, Extreme Unction assists during the struggle of death. The fifth Sacrament is defined: “A Sacrament of the New Law in which through the anointing with oil and the prayer of the priest adult persons who are in danger of death receive health of soul, and also at times health of body.”
(a) The remote matter or element of the Sacrament is oil (James, v, 14, 15). For validity it is required that this be olive oil, blessed by a bishop or by a priest having special papal delegation, with the special blessing for the oil of the sick (O. I.); for lawfulness, _sub gravi_ that it be oil blessed the previous Holy Thursday (Canon 734), _sub levi_ at least that it be blessed by the bishop of the diocese, or, in case of vacancy, by the neighboring bishop. In necessity the old oils may be lawfully used, while chrism and the oil of the catechumens may be used as doubtful matter. Unblessed oils and oils blessed by an unauthorized priest do not suffice for validity.
(b) The proximate matter is the anointing of the sick man with blessed oil. In urgent necessity it suffices to anoint one sense, or rather the forehead; in other cases the various senses should be anointed in the order given in the Ritual. Each anointing of a double sense should begin with the right organ (e.g., the right eye) and should be given with the right thumb in the form of a cross. If one organ is missing (e.g., a hand amputated), the anointing should be made, if possible, near to its place (e.g., on the wrist); if there is danger of contagion, the anointing may be made by means of an instrument, such as a brush or small stick. The anointing of the reins should always be omitted and the anointing of the feet may be omitted for any good reason, such as inconvenience to the dying person.
(c) The form of the Sacrament is the prayer used by the priest. In the Latin Church the ordinary form is contained in the words: “_Per istam sanctam unctionem_, etc. By this holy anointing and His most tender mercy may the Lord forgive thee whatever sin thou hast committed by sight (by hearing, by smell, by taste and speech, by touch, by thy steps). Amen.” The extraordinary rite for use when there is not time to give all the anointings is bestowed on the forehead in the words: “Per istam sanctam unctionem et suam piissimam misericordiam indulgeat tibi Dominus quidquid deliquisti. Amen.” The essential words of the form are: “Per istam unctionem indulgeat tibi Dominus quidquid deliquisti,” because they express the intercession and the effect of the rite. It would probably be a grave sin to omit the reference to the senses in the ordinary form, as that seems to be a notable part of the form; but it would be a light sin, apart from contempt or scandal, to omit an unimportant word such as “Amen.” If there is doubt about the recipient’s capacity (i.e., whether he has reached the use of reason, whether he is in danger of death, whether he is already dead, whether he is impenitent and unwilling to receive the Sacrament), the form should be conditional. The condition should be “_si es capax_,” not “_si es dispositus_,” even in the last-mentioned case. For the Sacrament is given validly even to one who is not well disposed (i.e., who lacks repentance) and there is thus the possibility, when validity is not made dependent on the condition of good disposition, that sacramental fruitfulness will follow later when impenitence, the obstacle to the Sacrament’s activity, shall have been removed.
(d) The recipient of the Sacrament is a Catholic who after attaining the use of reason has come into the danger of death through sickness or old age. No one is capable of receiving this Sacrament unless he is baptized, for Baptism is the gateway of the Sacraments (2671); unless he has reached the use of reason, for the Sacrament is a remedy against personal sin and supposes that the recipient can or formerly could distinguish between right and wrong; unless he is in danger of death through the infirmity of disease or of decrepitude, for St. James teaches that the anointing is for those who are enfeebled by illness dangerous unto death. Hence Extreme Unction cannot be administered validly to the unbaptized, to young children who have not come to the use of reason, to the perpetually insane, to those who are sick but not in danger of death, to those who are in danger of death but not sick (e.g., a strong man going to the gallows or to battle). But the Sacrament may be administered to children who have not yet made their first confession, if they are capable of sin, and to the insane who once had the use of reason. The danger of death need not be immediate, and hence Extreme Unction may be given when the disease is mortal but the patient will last for several months or even a year, as in tuberculosis. Illness includes not only chronic sickness, but also fatal disorders caused by wounds, accidents, poison. The rule about the old is that those who have reached sixty years and show some signs of approaching death, such as great feebleness or fainting spells, even though they have no special malady, may be anointed; for their old age itself is a disease.
(e) The minister of Extreme Unction is the priest, since St. James directs that the presbyters (i.e., the priests) of the Church be called to anoint the sick. Extreme Unction, unlike Penance, is not exercised in the form of a judicial process, and hence the power of Orders suffices for its valid administration, and any priest, even one who lacks jurisdiction, gives it validly. But for lawful administration church law prescribes that the minister regularly be the ecclesiastical superior or spiritual director (i.e., the pastor for his parish, the head of a clerical religious institute for his house, the parish-priest or chaplain for a lay religious body, the confessor for nuns), and that the minister extraordinarily (i.e., in necessity) be any other priest who has permission, or reasonably presumed permission.
(f) The effects of Extreme Unction are _per se_ an increase of sanctifying grace, since this is a Sacrament of the Living; _per accidens_ (i.e., when the recipient is not in the state of grace, but is in good faith and has attrition) the forgiveness of sins and first grace. Extreme Unction produces first grace more surely than does absolution, if the penitent is unconscious, since it does not call for any external manifestation of contrition; hence the importance of anointing those who are dying but unconscious. The special benefit of Extreme Unction is immediate preparation of the soul for entrance to heaven, though restoration of the health of the body is sometimes vouchsafed when this is for the spiritual good of the sick person. Venial sins and the remains of past sins (i.e., the debility left by them) are removed and the soul is strengthened with confidence as to things past and future and with peace and resignation as to present suffering. Since the Sacrament is given for the period of danger of death, it cannot be repeated during the same danger; but should the patient recover and relapse into a distinct danger through the same or another sickness, there arises a new need and the Sacrament may then be repeated.
2775. Special Duties.—In addition to the duties that are common in all the Sacraments, the following duties should be noted in reference to Extreme Unction.
(a) The Recipient.—_Per se_, Extreme Unction is not necessary as a means to salvation, for sanctifying grace may be had or recovered without it; but _per accidens_ it would be necessary as a means, if a dying person were in mortal sin and could not recover grace except through it. He who omits Extreme Unction unwillingly or for a good reason (e.g., because he is well prepared for death and cannot get a priest without very grave inconvenience) does not sin. He who omits the Sacrament voluntarily and without good reason, is guilty of grave sin if he acts from contempt, or gives scandal, or exposes himself to eternal damnation; but if there is no contempt, scandal or danger to salvation, sin is indeed committed by the neglect at such a crisis of so important a spiritual aid, but only venial sin, since there is no grave precept to receive this Sacrament. The recipient of Extreme Unction should be in the state of grace; and hence, if he has mortal sin on his conscience, he must beforehand make an act of contrition or receive absolution with attrition, or, if neither is possible, he must make an act of attrition. The custom of the Church calls for confession before Extreme Unction, and divine law commands confession if one is in mortal sin and in danger of death.
(b) The Minister.—The pastor is gravely bound in justice to give or have given the Sacrament of Extreme Unction to all his subjects who reasonably request it; other priests not charged with the spiritual care of the dying person are held in charity to anoint him, if he has not received the last rites and cannot otherwise be anointed. It is clear that sick calls should be attended to promptly, and it would be a serious matter to delay so long as to put the sick person in danger of dying without Extreme Unction or of receiving it when he had become unconscious and could not dispose himself properly. If the person has been pronounced dead before the priest’s arrival, he should nevertheless be absolved and anointed conditionally if the last breath was not long before; because physicians teach that death takes possession gradually, life lingering in the body for some time after its external signs have ceased, for about a half hour when the end has come after long illness, for one or two hours when death is sudden or accidental. The ceremonies are obligatory under pain of sin, and it is considered a serious matter to neglect the more notable parts, that is, without reason to omit all or nearly all the prayers, or to give the Sacrament without any sacred vestment.
(c) The Pastor.—The oil of the sick should be kept in a neat and properly decorated place, and should be contained in a vessel of silver or white metal. Only in exceptional cases is it lawful to keep it in the rectory (Canon 946). The Catechism of the Council of Trent (page 307) declares that Extreme Unction should form a subject of frequent instruction. It is important to exhort the people not to delay in sending for the priest till the sick person has become insensible, nor to omit to send for him in case of sudden death, since, as already said, life remains for some time in the body after apparent death.
(d) The People.—All those who are responsible for the good of the dying person, such as members of the family, physicians, nurses, relatives, friends, or neighbors, should beware of deceiving him about his condition and his need of preparation for death; on the contrary, they should see to it as far as they can, that he receives the last Sacraments in good time and while he has the full use of his senses, when the spiritual benefit and the comfort of mind will be of greater assistance and the bodily cure more likely.