A question on Catholic pastoral expectations

CharismaticLady · Oct 22, 2019

Michie said:
Roman Catholics do not believe they are the only Christians. We are all united but imperfectly. We are not allowed to recieve communion outside the Church though. Different topic completely.

Do you believe communion in an Anglican Church is not the same as in a Catholic Church?

Michie · Oct 22, 2019

CharismaticLady said:
Do you believe communion in an Anglican Church is not the same as in a Catholic Church?

No it is not the same. We believe different things. But this is not what the thread is about. If you have questions you wish to ask of Catholics, you can open your own thread here if you wish. Right now, I'm going to try to get some sleep. I'll check tomorrow.

ChicanaRose · Oct 22, 2019

Paidiske said:
What would you expect of your priest in those circumstances?

I did not know that priests have the right to refuse a sick call. If he cannot make it, he should send someone else. That's usually the protocol.

concretecamper · Oct 23, 2019

Paidiske said:
A question for you all about what would normally be expected of a priest in these circumstances.

There's a lady who's visited my church perhaps three or four times with her friend, but she is actually a Catholic and (I understand) attends daily mass in the local Catholic parish. A couple of weeks ago she fell very ill and ended up in the ICU fighting for her life.

Her daughters contacted her Catholic priest and asked him to come and anoint her etc (for reference the hospital's maybe 15, 20 minutes' drive away) and he refused. So - because she knew me and apparently had liked me when she visited - her daughters asked me to come instead. So I've been providing pastoral support to this woman and her family over the last couple of weeks.

But the daughters are really quite hurt and upset that the Catholic priest wouldn't come, and when I was talking about this with someone else, he suggested that it was quite negligent to refuse and that someone should complain to the bishop, so that something could be done about it.

I'm not sure whether to suggest that to the daughters; on the one hand, their plates are pretty full with a sick mother etc, but on the other hand, if this really is something the priest should have done and didn't, maybe someone should say something?

What would you expect of your priest in those circumstances?

whatever you do, do not offer a Catholic your version of the Communion.

concretecamper · Oct 23, 2019

I am reminded of Paul Harvey: "now you know the rest of the story". I wonder what the rest of the story is?

Paidiske · Oct 23, 2019

concretecamper said:
whatever you do, do not offer a Catholic your version of the Communion.

I am not asking for advice on my role here. I am asking only whether the Catholic priest's response seems normal/proper, and if not, what to do about it.

And if there are any matters you would like to clarify, I am happy to answer any questions.

concretecamper · Oct 23, 2019

Paidiske said:
I am not asking for advice on my role here. I am asking only whether the Catholic priest's response seems normal/proper, and if not, what to do about it.

come on, you know the response as you reported it is not proper.

Paidiske · Oct 23, 2019

concretecamper said:
come on, you know the response as you reported it is not proper.

Well, then, what would you do about it?

concretecamper · Oct 23, 2019

Paidiske said:
Well, then, what would you do about it?

I'm not sure who is responsible for the missing information. That would determine my response

Paidiske · Oct 23, 2019

concretecamper said:
I'm not sure who is responsible for the missing information. That would determine my response

What information do you feel is missing?

concretecamper · Oct 23, 2019

Paidiske said:
What information do you feel is missing?

my spider sense is going off. Something doesnt seem right. Are you leaving something out? Are they leaving something out? I dont know the answer.

Paidiske · Oct 23, 2019

concretecamper said:
my spider sense is going off. Something doesnt seem right. Are you leaving something out? Are they leaving something out? I dont know the answer.

I am not knowingly leaving something out. I don't think they are, either. And I agree; it doesn't seem right... hence why I asked the question in the first place.

Lady Bug · Oct 23, 2019

The lady that attends a Catholic parish, is she asking the priest at THAT parish, and THAT priest is refusing?

Paidiske · Oct 23, 2019

Lady Bug said:
The lady that attends a Catholic parish, is she asking the priest AT that parish, and THAT priest is refusing?

Yes.

Lady Bug said:
Is she a member of that parish she attends?

I'm not sure about formal parish membership. She's only been in Australia a bit over a year.

Lady Bug · Oct 23, 2019

Oh ok. That's odd then. I don't know what's going on - - has she been to confession lately?

Paidiske · Oct 23, 2019

Lady Bug said:
Oh ok. That's odd then. I don't know what's going on - - has she been to confession lately?

That I don't know. I know that she does go.

Bob Crowley · Oct 24, 2019

The short answer is that we don't know the priest, the lady who was sick, the family or the full circumstances. I also think its up to the family to take it up with the priest, not us.

It would seem to me that if the family want to follow it up, the first port of call would be to talk to the priest himself. If you want to act on their behalf, then you'd need their imprimatur. If you were just an unknown voice on the phone, I think he'd refuse to discuss the issue, for reasons of privacy and legal reasons, so they and / or you would need to see him personally.

As for priests not visiting hospitals outside their parish area, I find that a bit hard to believe. Most individual parishes wouldn't have a hospital within their boundaries (ours certainly doesn't) although I could name quite a number of hospitals within the much larger diocesan borders.

Until someone is prepared to talk personally to the priest, his reason or reasons will remain unknown.

Paidiske · Oct 24, 2019

...except that the family did talk to him personally, and he gave as his reason that the hospital was outside his parish bounds. So that is known.

Might there be something else going on? It would be nice to think there was some other explanation. But that was the reason he gave.

Bob Crowley · Oct 24, 2019

Without knowing any other factors, I'd have thought that he might have given them a suggestion as to another priest, or a hospital priest etc. Other than that I don't know any more than you do - probably less.

A question on Catholic pastoral expectations

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