Sakrament chorych a odpuszczanie grzechów

Abstract

The paper reflects upon one of the more important issues in the context of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, i.e., whether the sacrament itself absolves of sins. The problem seems to be fairly complex and important, not only from the scientific, but also from the pastoral point of view. For a priest who deals with someone who is in danger of death, e.g. as a result of a road accident, it is important to answer this question: what should he do in the first place, anoint or absolve? If the sacrament of the Anointment has the power of absolving from sins, then the absolution seems redundant, because – to use the contemporary language of advertising – we have here “two in one”, i.e. the sacrament of Anointing and the sacrament of Penitence with its fundamental result, which is the absolution of sins. Why therefore the ritual confirmed by the Holy Congregation pro Sacramentis at Cultu Divinoritual of November 15, 1977, stipulates that the ritual of Anointment is to be preceded by confession? If the anointment itself is to have the absolution of sins as one of its results, then confession, which serves the same purpose, seems redundant. Let us follow the history of this problem starting with the Biblical prerequisites, throughout theological reflection which reaches out to the present in order to better understand the essence of the sacrament of Anointing.