Congregration for the Doctrine of the Faith, Note on the Minister of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick

The Code of Canon Law in canon 1003 § 1 (cf. canon 739 § 1 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches) repeats exactly the doctrine expressed by the Council of Trent (Sessio XIV, canon 4: DS 1719; cf. also the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1516), that only priests (Bishops and presbyters) are ministers of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.

This doctrine is definitive tenenda. Thus, neither deacons nor laypeople can exercise this ministry, and any such action would constitute simulation of the sacrament.

Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, February 11, 2005, Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes.

JOSEPH CARD. RATZINGER
Prefect

ANGELO AMATO, S.D.B.
Titular Archbishop of Sila Secretary


Commentary on the Note on the Minister of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick

Recent decades have seen the emergence of theological tendencies calling into question the Church's doctrine according to which the minister of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick "est omnis et solus sacerdos". The issue is usually approached from the standpoint of pastoral practice, in consideration especially of those areas of the world where the scarcity of priests makes the timely administration of the sacrament difficult, and so it is suggested that this problem could be solved if permanent deacons and even qualified laypeople were authorized to administer the sacrament.

The Note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is intended to call attention to these tendencies so that they are not acted upon, to the detriment of the faith and with grave spiritual harm to the sick, the very people who are supposed to be helped.

Catholic theology sees in the Letter of James (5:14-15) the Biblical foundation for the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. The author of the Letter, after giving various counsels regarding Christian life, presents a norm for the sick: "Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the Church and they should pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven". In this text, the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, has, in the course of the centuries, identified the essential elements of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, which the Council of Trent (Sess. XIV, cap. 1-3, can. 1-4: DS 1695-1700, 1716-1719) sets out in systematic form: a) subject: a gravely ill baptized person; b) minister: "omnis et solus sacerdos"; c) matter: anointing with blessed oil; d) form: the prayer of the minister; e) effects: salvific grace, forgiveness of sins, relief of the sick person.

Prescinding from other issues, the Congregation's Note focuses exclusively on the doctrinal question of the minister of this sacrament.

The Greek text of the letter of James, “t??? p?esß?t???? t?? ?????s?a?” (5:14), which the Vulgate, in agreement with the tradition, translates as "presbyteros Ecclesiae", cannot refer to elders in the sense of older members of the community, but rather to that particular category of the faithful to whom, through the laying on of hands, the Holy Spirit has given the task of shepherding the Church of God.

The first document of the Magisterium that speaks explicitly of the Anointing of the Sick is a letter of Pope Innocent I to Decentius, Bishop of Gubbio (19 March 416). The Pope, in commenting on the words of the Letter of James, was reacting to an interpretation which held that only presbyters and not Bishops were the ministers of the sacrament; he rejects this limitation, writing that Bishops as well as presbyters are the ministers of the sacrament (cf. DS 216). This letter of Pope Innocent I, in addition to other witnesses from the first millennium (Caesarius of Arles, Venerable Bede), gives no support to the possibility of introducing ministers of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick who are not priests.

In the subsequent period prior to the Council of Trent, the Magisterium and canonical legislation contain the following indications: Gratian in his Decretum (from about 1140) takes up almost literally the normative part of the above-mentioned Letter of Pope Innocent I (part 1, dist. 95, can. 3). Later, in the Decretals of Gregory IX, one finds a Decretal of Alexander III (1159-1164) in which he responds affirmatively to the question of whether a priest could administer the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick alone, that is, without the presence of another cleric or layperson (X. 5, 40, 14). Finally, the Council of Florence, in the Bull Exsultate Deo (22 November 1439), states as an undisputed truth that "the minister of this sacrament is the priest" (DS 1325).

The teaching of the Council of Trent took a position in response to the contestation of the reformers who held that the Anointing of the Sick was not a sacrament but a human invention, and that the "presbyters" referred to in the Letter of James were not ordained priests, but the elders of the community. The Council gave a full exposition of Catholic doctrine on this question (Sess. XIV, cap. 3: DS 1697-1700) and anathematized those who denied that the Anointing of the Sick was one of the seven sacraments (ibid., can. 1: DS 1716) and those who denied that only a priest was the minister of the sacrament (ibid., can. 4: DS 1719).

From the Council of Trent until the codification of canon law in 1917, there were only two interventions of the Magisterium which in some way related to this question: the Apostolic Constitution Etsi pastorales (26 May 1742, cf. § 5, n. 3: DS 2524) and the Encyclical Ex quo primum (1 March 1756) of Pope Benedict XIV. In the first document, liturgical norms were given regarding relations in the south of Italy between Latin-rite Catholics and Eastern-rite Catholics who had fled there because of persecution. The second document approved and commented on the Euchologium (Ritual) of Eastern-rite Christians who had come back into full communion with the Apostolic See.¹ It was an unquestioned truth that the minister of this sacrament was "omnis et solus sacerdos".

The traditional doctrine expressed by the Council of Trent on the minister of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick was codified in the Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1917 (can. 938 § 1) and repeated, in practically the same words, in the Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1983 (can. 1003 § 1) as well as in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches of 1990 (can. 739 § 1).

All the Rituals containing the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick have always presupposed that the minister of the sacrament is a Bishop or presbyter (cf. Ordo Unctionis Infirmorum eorumque pastorales curae, Editio typica, Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1972, Praenotanda, n. 5, 16-19). It was never contemplated that the minister of the sacrament could be a deacon or a layperson.

The doctrine that the minister of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick "est omnis et solus sacerdos" enjoys such a level of theological certitude that it must be qualified as a doctrine "definitive tenenda". The sacrament would be invalid if a deacon or a layperson attempted to administer it, and such an action would constitute the canonical delict of simulation in the administration of a sacrament, punishable according to canon 1379 of the Code of Canon Law (cf. CCEO, can. 1443).

In conclusion, it is appropriate to recall that the priest, by virtue of the sacrament he has received, makes present, in a completely distinctive way, our Lord Jesus Christ, Head of the Church. In the administration of the sacraments, the priest acts in persona Christi Capitis and in persona Ecclesiae. In this sacrament, it is Jesus Christ who works; the priest is the living and visible instrument. He both represents Christ and makes Christ present in a special way, so that this sacrament has a particular dignity and efficacy, different from a sacramental. In this way, as expressed by the inspired word of God regarding the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick: "the Lord will raise him up" (Jas 5:14). The priest also acts in persona Ecclesiae. The prayer of the "presbyters of the Church" (Jas 5:14) includes the prayer of the entire Church; as Saint Thomas Aquinas writes: "oratio ilia non fit a sacerdote in persona sua [...], sed fit in persona totius Ecclesiae" (Summa Theologiae, Supplementum, q. 31, a. 1, ad 1). Such a prayer will be heard.


¹ It should be noted that Orthodox Christians also hold that the minister of the Anointing of the Sick is only a presbyter or Bishop.