deborah writes “CNN is incorrectly reporting “Pope given last rites”: Last rites — also known as the sacrament of the sick or extreme unction”.
Unlike the edited professionals at CNN, Wikipedia gets it right. Currently on the home page: Pope John Paul II reportedly receives the Anointing of the Sick following a serious urinary tract infection.. And the anointing of the sick page explains The former name Extreme Unction was used in the Western (Roman) part of the Catholic Church from the end of the twelfth century until the Second Vatican Council, and was never popular in the Eastern (Orthodox) part. Last Rites is a common but misleading term.”
It’s a balance
Last rites, according to wiki, is a commonly used term (though technically not the correct term). So it’s kind of a balance… do you use the correct term, or the approximately equal term that’s going to mean the most to the most people?
I guess CNN sort of has to appeal to the lowest common denominator (I hate to use that term… the Catholic Church is pretty mysterious to me). That may be why they chose the less accurate last rites over the sacrament of the sick.
Or it could be that last rites is so much more dramatic.
Re:It’s a balance
last rites certainly makes for better headline copy. But the reason I noticed is that when I mentioned last night that the pope had been given last rites, my pastor friend flipped — she was shocked that the Vatican wasn’t doing damage control on the headlines. Apparently the whole reason they changed extreme unction to “anointing of the sick” is in order to fight the implication all the newspapers are making today — that once you are granted those rights, you’re about to die. (ObDisclaimer: usually, especially before posting on this board of all places, I double check my facts before I pass them on. In this case I’m just trusting the woman with the degree from Harvard div. No — I’m trusting my memory of my understanding of a conversation with her. So take with the appropriate amount of salt. )
In any case, the CNN statement that last rites are “also known as the sacrament of the sick or extreme unction” is just false, conflating the pre-Vatican two rite with the current one.
Not evidence that CNN (or AP, or anyone else who today is reporting “last rites”) is evil, just another piece of evidence that Wikipedia is sometimes held to a higher standard of accuracy. Or at least pedantry.
Ok, I am Catholic, but no experth tm)
I would refer you all to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (available online here: http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c2a5.
“1514 The Anointing of the Sick ‘is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as anyone of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived.’129
1515 If a sick person who received this anointing recovers his health, he can in the case of another grave illness receive this sacrament again. If during the same illness the person’s condition becomes more serious, the sacrament may be repeated. It is fitting to receive the Anointing of the Sick just prior to a serious operation. The same holds for the elderly whose frailty becomes more pronounced. “
Holy Viaticum
It seems that the Pope has been given the Holy Viaticum, not just the Annointing of the Sick. This is much more like what people think of as last rites.