Czy diakoni i wierni świeccy mogą udzielać sakramentu namaszczenia chorych?

Abstract

The author deals with the problem of the dispenser of the anointing of the sick. This is a current topic, as we are witnessing demands or even practice that is not in accord with the hitherto doctrine and Tradition of the Catholic Church that this sacrament could be administered also by deacons and the lay faithful. Bearing in mind the analysis of Jk 5:14 and the usual teaching of the Church, the author is in favour of the position adopted by the majority of Biblical specialists and theologians. They claim that the term presbyteroi used in the text denotes those who lead the community of the Church — a bishop and presbyter. It is true that there are some testimonies, informing us that the lay persons use the holy oil in the case of illness, but the sacrament of the anointing of the sick has always been administered by priests. This doctrine is also found in the Ordo unctionis infirmorum of 1972 and the Code of Canon Law of 1983. Finally the matter has definitively been decided by the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith. It issued a Note in 2005 in which we are reminded that the teaching about the priest (sacerdos) as the only dispenser of the sacrament of the anointing of the sick is definitive tenendo. Therefore no one can administer it validly, and those who do it commit the “crime of simulation” which is punishable (cf. CCL can 1379; CCEC can. 1443). This doctrine and practice of the Roman Church remain in accord with the Eastern Churches and the Orthodox Church.