Who May Receive the Sacrament of the Sick?

  • Any member of the faithful whose health is seriously impaired by sickness or old age.
  • Anyone facing surgery for a serious condition.
  • People who suffer from chronic illness.
  • People who suffer from mental illness.
  • Elderly people if they have become noticeably weakened even though no serious illness is present.
  • Sick children, if they have sufficient use of reason to be strengthened by the sacrament.
  • The sacrament may be repeated if the sick person recovers and then falls ill again or if the person's condition worsens.
  • The sacrament may be conferred on a sick person who has lost consciousness, but who, as a Christian believer, at least implicitly asked for it when he/she was in control of his/her faculties.
  • When a person is in danger of death from sickness or old age.
Pastoral Care of the Sick, nn. 8-15 (cf. Canons 1004.1 and 844.3,4,5)

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