Sorry to lumber onto Deacon Jim's turf, but a deacon down here and I have been talking about the freeze-out of priests for the last rites at hospitals. And lo, he has just sent me this from Jim's local paper. I couldn't wait to share it.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-chicago-last-rites-priests-squad-20200406-ht5xzf3umna6vi5vfy5rntcz2a-story.html
You go, Chicago guys.
If the patient is unresponsive, is there any point to the sacrament? I don't know the answer to that question.
ReplyDeleteIs Last Rite by phone even valid or legal? A priest was doing drive by confession (he sat 6 feet away from the car) and the bishop shut that down. I can't imagine phoning in the Last Rites would be kosher.
Also, I would find it difficult to ask a priest to put his health at risk for the sacrament for me or a family member. If a priest offered, that would be different.
Jean, that makes sense to me. But Damien of Molokai wasn't canonized for handling leprosy the way we would.
DeleteMy mom was unconscious when she was anointed in her last days. She had also been anointed previously in her illness, and the priest and some EMHCs had been bringing her Communion at home. I think there was a point to the sacrament when she was unconscious, it at least was a comfort to her family gathered around her bedside knowing she wouldn't be with us much longer. To families unable to be with their loved one at the last, it must be a comfort knowing that the priest had given them the sacraments of the church. There is also the apostolic blessing given to the dying at the time of a last anointing.
DeleteAs I understood the article, the service is voluntary on the part of the priests, who needed to be younger than 60 and no underlying conditions. The protective wear furnished to them sounded the same as that given to the medical people.
About the drive-by confessions, maybe it was the drive-by aspect that wasn't kosher. Because there are priests hearing confessions in an open area at least six feet from the penitent, and wearing a mask.
Tom, thanks for the link to that Chicago Tribune article. FWIW, back on March 25, in a long post (so long that it may well have fallen into the "TL/DR" category), I tried to summarize what the archdiocese has set up for the category of pastoral care which the Tribune article focuses on. I'm pasting the relevant excerpt here. But I hadn't heard of any follow-up for how the new guidelines have been implemented, so this Tribune story is excellent from that pespective.
ReplyDelete"Anointing of the sick is still permitted, but special procedures are to be utilized. Bishop Hicks states that, "Under the State’s exemption for essential services, the Archdiocese of Chicago is including anointing of the sick as an essential service". I'm grateful that the Archdiocese has decided that anointing is essential.
If the person requesting anointing is not a COVID-19 patient, the priest who receives the call may respond. However, if it takes place in a healthcare facility (or, I'd think, even if it doesn't), everyone present is to follow good social-distancing practices. The priest is to scrub his hands thoroughly right before and right after the anointing. In addition, "The anointing must be done with a cotton-tipped swab or a cotton ball which is to be burned or buried after use". I guess, if I were a priest, I'd pack an ashtray or similar vessel suitable for burning the swab or cotton ball, and matches or a lighter, as part of my regular kit for anointings.
If the patient is a COVID-19 patient, then the anointing must be carried out by a specially-designated priest. Each of the archdiocese's six vicariates (vicariates are sort of sub-dioceses in large dioceses, each led by a bishop) is to appoint four priests for this purpose. There are criteria for these priests: they must be under 60 years old, and must not have a serious or chronic health condition such as cancer, heart disease, asthma or other conditions which might render them vulnerable in the event of contracting the disease. The pool of priests in each vicariate who meet these criteria probably will not be large. When administering the sacrament in a hospital, the priest must follow all of the hospital's guidelines, such as wearing protective garments. If the sacrament is to be administered at home, the priest is to to wear latex or other non-porous gloves, a face mask and eye covering (eye glasses are deemed sufficient). The vessel with the oil, the liturgical book, the pyx with communion and any other items needed for the sacrament are to be sanitized before entering the home. They are to be sanitized again after leaving, and then kept in sealed plastic bags in the priest's car, ideally in the trunk, or in another place to which people are not likely to come into proximity. Communion may be administered but only in the hand. The gloves should be sealed in a plastic bag and then thrown away. Upon returning from the visit, the priest is to shower immediately and then put on fresh clothes."
https://newgathering.blogspot.com/2020/03/sacramental-life-during-this-time.html#more
When I was discussing this subject with one of your brother deacons (at distances measured in gigabytes), he told me something you may want to keep in mind if coronavirus duties threaten to be extended: "I told my pastor," he said, "I am ordained for service, but you were ordained for sacrifice."
DeleteFrancis just finished a powerful homily on this topic at the Evening Mass of the Last Supper.
ReplyDeleteHe reminded priests that he would rather be celebrating this Mass in prison as is his custom, and still hoped to do it by Pentecost rather than delaying until next year.
He then reminded priests that dying to a virus to which one does not have immunity is not unusual for priests. Many who go to mission countries do not have the natural immunity of the people there.
He also sympathized with priests for that alienation they have experienced because of the sexual abuse crises.
(How difficult it must be for many priests who have struggled with that alienation, now have to face celebrating virtually alone. Was this what they had signed up for?)
Francis gave his trade mark answer. We are all sinners, priests, bishops, himself. Are you willing to accept the Lord’s invitation to have YOUR feet washed?
From that, of course, flows all the practical consequences of washing the feet of others.
I stayed close to home for the parish's live-streamed Mass. It wasn't pre-recorded. Boy, it sure wasn't. And it wasn't fully transmitted. The screen would freeze and the sound go out for 15 or 20 seconds every couple of minutes.
DeleteVery frustrating. We had most of the first reading, none of the second reading and about 50%, scattered, of the Gospel. Bread was consecrated, but no wine. And it was bilingual, so we might lose it in English and regain it in Spanish.
I think I'll go where the pope is on Good Friday.
Sounds like our experience. Pretty glitchy. Ours was uploaded to youtube rather than live streamed. My husband thinks he can make it work better by downloading some kind of app. I'll leave that to him.
DeleteThe one by the archbishop on Sunday was livestreamed, same kind of trouble. We had the consecration twice, also parts of that long gospel.
The daily Mass works just fine, but it's streamed by a professional news channel. My sister tells me that the hometown parish Mass is being streamed by a funeral home. Apparently they are experts at livestreaming.