Last week’s post examined the consecration for a sacrilegious purpose of one matter without the other or of both, within or outside the Eucharistic celebration. Canon 1381 states: “One who is guilty of prohibited participation in religious rites is to be punished with a just penalty.”The delict comprises two elements: communicatio in sacris in violation of canon 844 and Eucharistic concelebration forbidden by canon 908. Today’s post focuses on the first.
The Second Vatican Council affirms that “common participation in worship (communicatio in sacris) which harms the unity of the Church or involves formal acceptance of error or the danger of aberration in the faith, of scandal and indifferentism, is forbidden by divine law” (Orientalium Ecclesiarum, 26). However, the Church allows some form of common participation in worship to prevent obstacles to those seeking salvation and to promote union with the Eastern Churches. Nevertheless, irrespective of this spirit of ecumenism, “worship in common (communicatio in sacris) is not to be considered as a means to be used indiscriminately for the restoration of Christian unity” (Unitatis Redintegratio, 8).
It is important to distinguish between communicatio in sacris from communcatio in spiritualibus. The former concerns the administration and reception of sacraments between Catholics and other Christians. The latter concerns sharing spiritual activities and resources such as common prayers, non-sacramental worship (such as the divine office and ecclesiastical funerals), and the common use of sacred places and necessary objects.
Canon 844 helps understand the religious rites prohibited. It states:
“§1Catholic ministers may lawfully administer the sacraments only to catholic members of Christ’s faithful, who equally may lawfully receive them only from catholic ministers, except as provided in §§2, 3 and 4 of this canon and in can. 861 §2.
§2 Whenever necessity requires or a genuine spiritual advantage commends it, and provided the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided, Christ’s faithful for whom it is physically or morally impossible to approach a catholic minister, may lawfully receive the sacraments of penance, the Eucharist and anointing of the sick from non-catholic ministers in whose Churches these sacraments are valid.
§3 Catholic ministers may lawfully administer the sacraments of penance, the Eucharist and anointing of the sick to members of the eastern Churches not in full communion with the catholic Church, if they spontaneously ask for them and are properly disposed. The same applies to members of other Churches which the Apostolic See judges to be in the same position as the aforesaid eastern Churches so far as the sacraments are concerned.
§4 If there is a danger of death or if, in the judgement of the diocesan Bishop or of the Episcopal Conference, there is some other grave and pressing need, catholic ministers may lawfully administer these same sacraments to other christians not in full communion with the catholic Church, who cannot approach a minister of their own community and who spontaneously ask for them, provided that they demonstrate the catholic faith in respect of these sacraments and are properly disposed.”
First and foremost, the sacraments referred to here are penance, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick only. The reason for this concession is because these are sacraments that focus directly on helping the Christian to gain eternal life. The sacrament of baptism can be administered by an unbaptised in urgent cases (cf. Can. 861 §2). The sacraments of confirmation and holy orders are received within one’s own communion. The Church already provides for marriage involving non-Catholics through dispensations for mixed marriage and disparity of cult.
One must also state that the Maronite Eparchy in Ibadan is among the 23 sui iuris Churches that make up the Eastern Catholic Churches, in full communion with the pope and the Catholic Church. Since the law focuses on non-Catholics, the prohibitions do not concern them. Instead, it concerns Eastern Churches not in full communion with the pope, such as the Orthodox. It also applies to other Churches, which the Apostolic See judges to be in the same position as the Eastern Churches regarding the sacraments. The Apostolic See does not provide an official list of Churches in the same position as the Eastern Churches. Nevertheless, one cannot equate the Anglicans and other mainline Churches with the Eastern Churches.
There are conditions before a Catholic can receive the sacraments at the hands of a minister in whose Church these sacraments are valid. They are (1) necessity or genuine spiritual advantage, (2) physical (such as when one is in prison or hospital) or moral (serious inconvenience, such as when the available minister is an abuser) impossibility of receiving the sacrament from a Catholic minister, (c) the absence of the danger of error or indifferentism, (d) the sacrament must be valid in that Church. All these conditions must be present before one can receive the sacrament from a non-Catholic minister’s hands.
Based on the criteria above, there are no Churches in Nigeria where the sacraments of penance, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick are valid. Moreover, given Nigeria’s peculiarity, finding a Catholic minister is almost always guaranteed. Catholics who contravene this are subject to a penalty based on the judgement of the Ordinary.
On the other hand, the reality of non-Catholics wanting to receive the Eucharist, go for confessions, and be anointed with oil is now common. This desire is constantly increasing due to the regular Eucharistic adoration done in many parishes in Nigeria. Non-Christians such as Muslims or members of Traditional Religion are out of the discussion. The question is: Can the non-Catholic Christian participants at Eucharistic adoration receive the sacraments of penance, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick? Here, non-Catholic Christians include Anglicans, other mainline Churches, and Pentecostals, who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church.
Paragraph four of canon 844 focuses on the conditions before a catholic minister can lawfully administer the three sacraments to other Christians who are not in full communion. They are (a) the danger of death or the diocesan Bishop or Episcopal Conference approves there is a grave and pressing need, (b) the Christians cannot approach their own minister, (c) they spontaneously ask for them, (d) they respect these sacraments (e) they are properly disposed. These conditions must be present before the catholic minister can administer these sacraments. Pope John Paul II also emphasises that “these conditions, from which no dispensation can be given, must be carefully respected (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 46). Based on these conditions, the late woman who recently asked for communion in the hospital should have been given the Eucharist.
Regarding the first point, the Complementary Norms of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference on canon 844 reserves the decision to the diocesan bishop to ascertain a grave and pressing need other than the danger of death. No doubt, there are serious efforts at adoration grounds to prevent non-Catholics from receiving the Eucharist and coming for sacramental confession. The main challenge is the anointing of the sick.
In his apostolic constitution on the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, Sacram Unctione Infirmorum, Pope Paul VI declares that the following is to be observed in the Latin rite: “The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is administered to those who are dangerously ill, by anointing them on the forehead and hands with olive oil, or, if opportune, with another vegetable oil, properly blessed, and saying once only the following words: “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.”
Canon 999 provides that the oil used for the sacrament can be blessed by the bishop or those equivalent to him in law, such as priests who head a particular Church (cf. Cann. 368 – 371). It also provides that “in case of necessity, any priest but only in the actual celebration of the sacrament” can bless the oil. Canon 1000 §1 states: “The anointings are to be carried out accurately, with the words and in the order and manner prescribed in the liturgical books.”
Therefore, the validity and liceity of the anointing of the sick done at adoration grounds on Catholics depend on the type of oil used, how it was blessed, and the rite used in administering the sacrament.
While non-Catholics may believe in the sacrament and ask for the anointing, the diocesan bishop’s approval is indispensable. Moreover, the proper disposition of these non-Catholics and their inability to approach their own minister need to be ascertained because danger of death situations are rare at parish adorations. This is where priests need to be cautious while anointing the sick at Eucharistic adorations so that they do not simulate the sacrament of the anointing of the sick – a more grave delict reserved to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith. Other ‘anointings’ do not fall under this delict.
May God continue to help us🙏🏾
K’ọdị🙋🏾♂️
