Christian Contribution to the Spiritual Care of the Sick (Part 1) : Potentialities of Vatican II Reform

概要

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The Second Vatican Council took a bold step by shifting the focus of the sacrament of extreme unction to" pastoral care of the sick." Mary Collins identifies that this shift addresses the question: "What of the church's continuing ministry to the sick, prior to their sacramental anointing or subsequent of it?" The possibility of care in the modern sense emerged within the scope of Catholic ministry. In offering pastoral care to the sick, pragmatic interests of any kind and redemptive emphases appear to have become secondary. I have, instead, identified two interrelated theological concepts and a renewed Christian anthropological perspective as pivotal for the development of a richer theology of pastoral care of the sick. The two concepts are initiation and community. Christian pastoral care of the sick, fundamentally, consists of the assurance of membership in the baptismal community and of God's faithfulness to this community. The new emphasis of the laying on of hands is as a reminder of the baptismal vow and of communion. The other pivot of the new anthropology comes from a deepened Christology.The sick person is invited to participate in the fullness of the paschal mystery of the Christ. As Empereur characterizes, anointing designates the sick into a prophetic role. The sick person, thus, ministers to the community.
2011-03-30