Anointing of the sick

Names[edit]

Since 1972, the Roman Catholic Church has used the name "Anointing of the Sick" both in the English translations issued by the Holy See of its official documents in Latin^[4] and in the English official documents of Episcopal conferences.^[5] It does not, of course, forbid the use of other names, for example the more archaic term "Unction of the Sick" or the term "Extreme Unction". Cardinal Walter Kasper used the latter term in his intervention at the 2005 Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.^[6] However, the Church declared that "'Extreme unction' ... may also and more fittingly be called 'anointing of the sick'",^[7] and has itself adopted the latter term, while not outlawing the former. This is to emphasize that the sacrament is available, and recommended, to all those suffering from any serious illness, and to dispel the common misconception that it is exclusively for those at or very near the point of death.


Extreme Unction was the usual name for the sacrament in the West from the late twelfth century until 1972, and was thus used at the Council of Trent^[8] and in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.^[9] Peter Lombard (died 1160) is the first writer known to have used the term,^[3] which did not become the usual name in the West till towards the end of the twelfth century, and never became current in the East.^[9] The word "extreme" (final) indicated either that it was the last of the sacramental unctions (after the anointings at Baptism, Confirmation and, if received, Holy Orders) or because at that time it was normally administered only when a patient was in extremis.^[3]


Other names used in the West include the unction or blessing of consecrated oil, the unction of God, and the office of the unction.^[9] Among some Protestant bodies, who do not consider it a sacrament, but instead as a practice suggested rather than commanded by Scripture, it is called anointing with oil.


In the Greek Church, the sacrament is called Euchelaion (Greek Εὐχέλαιον, from εὐχή, "prayer", and ἔλαιον, "oil").^[3][9] Other names are also used, such as ἅγιον ἔλαιον (holy oil), ἡγιασμένον ἔλαιον (consecrated oil), and χρῖσις or χρῖσμα (anointing).^[9]


The Community of Christ uses the term administration to the sick.^[10]


The term "last rites" refers to administration to a dying person not only of this sacrament but also of Penance and Holy Communion, the last of which, when administered in such circumstances, is known as "Viaticum", a word whose original meaning in Latin was "provision for the journey". The normal order of administration is: first Penance (if the dying person is physically unable to confess, absolution, conditional on the existence of contrition, is given); next, Anointing; finally, Viaticum (if the person can receive it).