Gay man Says Catholic Priest Refused Him Last rites

[doggie]

looks like this priest missed the popes advice.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/2 ... 23914.html

Lifelong Catholic Ronald Plishka wasn't sure that he that he would survive when an ambulance brought him to the emergency room of Washington, D.C.'s Washington Hospital Center to treat his heart attack, so he requested a priest to give him communion and administer last rites.

Father Brian Coelho, a priest assigned to the hospital's Department of Spiritual Care, arrived at his bedside to perform the sacrament of anointing of the sick, but stopped preparing for communion once he found out that Pliskha was gay, according to the patient's account to the Washington Blade.

Plishka told The Blade that Coelho offered to take his confession before proceeding with communion and sacramental last rites. “We started talking and I told him I was so happy with this new pope because of his comments about the gays and his accepting the gays,†Plishka said. “And I mentioned that I was gay. I said it and then I asked him does that bother you? And he said, ‘Oh, no, that does not bother me.'"

The Washington Post reported that the conversation was interrupted by another person coming into the room, which Plishka shared with another patient. Plishka said that after his revelation, Coelho simply "would not continue" with the anointing of the sick sacrament or administration of communion, offering Plishka no explanation.

“He said, ‘I will pray with you,’ but that’s all he’d do. That was it.†Plishka was shocked and angered by Coelho's reaction. He told The Blade, "He wanted to pray. That’s what he wanted to do. He said well I could pray with you. And I just told him to get the f*** out of here — excuse me. But that’s what I told him.â€

[theologygeek]

Something doesn't sound right. That man doesn't sound sick enough for the last rites. It's not given out freely. I was close to a priest. If he didn't think the person was sick enough, or if the doctor didn't tell him it was time, he would just pray with the patient.

[amyand4]

I don't post very often. I am mostly a lurker but trying to get my nerve up. I do have to say at first I was kind of upset when I first read this, then after thinking about it for a minute the previous poster is probably right. He probably didn't need last rites. I am a former Catholic, and it is actually something to be taken serious in their mind. I believe it may be a sacrament??!! People are definitely on their way out and don't usually ask for them but if they are awake a confession is part of it. Also if this man was not a practicing Catholic he was not going to be given Communion homosexual or heterosexual.

[amyand4]

Oh I didn't read the article first just the reply, ( leave it to a new-by) I guess he should have gotten his communion at least?

[maia sayet]

You can only receive communion if you have confessed your since your mortal sins. If this guy doesn't consider sodomy a sin, then the priest can't give him communion, technically.

The Pope didn't say that gay sex isn't a sin. He said it wasn't the only sin, and it's not the worst sin. It's an "as bad as" sin. When he talked about gay priests, he wasn't talking about priests who engage is sex acts--he was talking about priests who feel same sex attraction as an orientation, but don't act on it. The official position in the CCC, well before Francis, was that it's not a sin to be gay in orientation, but it IS a sin to act on it. Same as it is a sin to engage in heterosexual fornication. Etc. Gay sex and hetero acts of the non-procreative persuasion are all the same sort of sin.

All of this is part of why I'm not quite as impressed as some people seem to be with Francis.

Anywho, this guy would have had to confess his sins to receive communion. And those sins would have had to include any sort of gay sex.

[PennySycamore]

As a convert way back in the mid-70s, the way I was taught about the Sacrament of the Sick is that person should NOT wait until he/she think that they are dying, but ask to receive the sacrament any time they are faced with serious illness. For many priests, yes, it would be difficult to offer absolution if the man did not confess any homosexual activity as sin, but not all priests are like that.

In my opinion, the priest acted like a douche.

[Hane]

As a convert way back in the mid-70s, the way I was taught about the Sacrament of the Sick is that person should NOT wait until he/she think that they are dying, but ask to receive the sacrament any time they are faced with serious illness. For many priests, yes, it would be difficult to offer absolution if the man did not confess any homosexual activity as sin, but not all priests are like that.

In my opinion, the priest acted like a douche.

Yes, 100% to all of this. Back when I was a kid in the '50s, what was then called Extreme Unction was administered only to people who seemed to be minutes away from dying.

Nowadays, it's called Anointing of the Sick. My widowed aunt attended a retreat dedicated to helping bereaved people recover from their suffering, and told me that Anointing of the Sick was given to her there.

Shortly before my mother had multiple-bypass surgery, a priest (hospital chaplain) administered this sacrament to her, and we all prayed together. It was quite different in form from what I'd learned in catechism as a child. (I have distinct memories, because we performed a skit demonstrating Extreme Unction, and I played the person who was dying.)

[louisa05]

Two contrasting stories:

My grandmother was given last rites by a Catholic priest shortly before her death. She was raised Catholic and left for the Lutheran church late in her life (because she was mad at a particular priest over something that had nothing to do with doctrine or sacraments...). The priest knew that. But she requested it and was dying and he performed the sacrament.

My father was given communion by a Catholic priest in ICU this week. He is a baptized and confirmed Catholic, but has not been a practicing Catholic for 50 years. He asked the hospital chaplain about it and she arranged it. Both the chaplain (a nun) and the priest understood his situation and did not object to his receiving communion.

No one likes to tell those stories. Merciful kind priests are no fun. They make really boring headlines.

[rezski44]

I also got the Anointing of the Sick Sacrament in 2003 when I was facing surgery for a potential cancer. Luckily it came back negative. The surgery also gave me much better health without my diseased parts.