Q. I know the word “friend” appears many times in the Bible, but sometimes it is capitalized. For example, at daily Mass today there was a reading from 1st Maccabees which said that King Antiochus, who was about to die, “called in all his Friends” to tell them of his tribulations, and he chose Philip, “one of his Friends,” to take charge of his kingdom (cf. 6:10-14). Why is the word capitalized? — K.R., Connecticut.
A. You will also find the word capitalized in the Gospel of John (19:12) when Jesus was on trial before Pontius Pilate. When Pilate tried to release Jesus, some of those in the crowd shouted, “If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar.” Friend with a capital F was a title of honor bestowed on persons who had gained the favor of the king or the emperor through meritorious service to him.
The crowd in front of Pilate was saying that if the Roman official released a man who had been hailed as the “King of the Jews,” which made him a rival of the emperor, Pilate would lose his favored position as governor.
Q. I have three questions and would appreciate it if you could answer them. Thank you in advance. — S.F., New York.
A. 1) What is the difference — if any — between the Sacrament of the Sick and Extreme Unction? I know that the first one is routinely given in nursing homes and hospitals, but I seem to remember Extreme Unction being more elaborate. — Apart from the name, there is no essential difference in the sacrament, which is also known as the Anointing of the Sick. The name was changed by the Second Vatican Council in 1965 because the sacrament is not just for those at the point of death, but for anyone of the faithful who “begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age.” This could include persons facing surgery necessitated by a dangerous illness, elderly people who are weak but not dangerously ill, and sick children who are old enough to be comforted by the sacrament. The rite for administering the sacrament was revised by Pope Paul VI in 1972, and the scriptural basis of the sacrament is the Letter of James, chapter 5, verses 14-16.
2) I have read of the Sacrament of Confirmation being given to infants (along with Baptism, of course) in danger of dying. This is confusing to me since infants cannot understand the commitment of Confirmation, are not capable of sin, and therefore Baptism should be enough for them to get to Heaven. What about older children who are profoundly retarded? — According to canon law (c. 891), “the Sacrament of Confirmation is to be conferred on the faithful at about the age of discretion unless the conference of bishops determines another age or there is danger of death or in the judgment of the minister a grave cause urges otherwise.”
A grave cause could involve those living in a remote area where a visit by the bishop happens very infrequently. We know priests from the Society of St. James who were stationed for years in South America and who from time to time helped a bishop confirm hundreds of persons of all ages on the rare occasion when he happened to visit their region.
The age of discretion is about seven, but the bishops of the United States have since 1984 left the age of Confirmation up to the individual bishop in his diocese, and the age for the sacrament has ranged from seven to 18, with some bishops administering Confirmation at the time of First Communion. In danger of death, any baptized Catholic, even an infant, should receive all the Sacraments of Initiation, i.e., Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist. Those below the age of reason do not have to understand the commitment of Confirmation in order to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit.
As for children who are mentally retarded, they also should be confirmed at age seven or at the age other children are confirmed. It is not necessary for them to have any special instruction, although there are good catechetical programs designed to help them. For example, Loyola Press (loyolapress.com) offers “Adaptive Learning” kits to help children with learning disabilities prepare for First Penance, First Communion, and Confirmation.
3) I have a vague recollection of my own Confirmation over 60 years ago, in another country, but I have no proof of it except my memory. Recently, I sponsored a candidate for Confirmation and contributed to his formation, but don’t know whether I should trust my recollection or whether I should seek to be confirmed again. What do you think? — We think that if you have no way of proving that you were confirmed, no knowledge of the church where it took place, or don’t know of any person who could verify it, you should trust your memory.
Q. I believe Catholic teaching says we should not believe in ghosts. However, it appears that the souls of the deceased have appeared to living individuals. What are we to believe? — R.B.K., Virginia.
A. A ghost is a disembodied spirit and there is nothing in Catholic teaching that would rule out the possibility that God might permit departed souls to appear in some visible form on Earth.
Ghostly apparitions or illusions could be caused by the Devil, of course, but there is sufficient evidence to indicate that ghosts have appeared on Earth for a good purpose, e.g., to help or warn someone or to request prayers from the living. Souls in Purgatory often appeared to St. Padre Pio to tell him that Masses said for them by loved ones on Earth helped to lessen their suffering and to facilitate their journey to Heaven.
There are reports of ghosts in the Old Testament, for example, the time when King Saul conjured up the ghost of the prophet Samuel, who gave him the bad news that because Saul had disobeyed the Lord, “the Lord will deliver Israel, and you as well, into the clutches of the Philistines. By tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and the Lord will have delivered the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 28:19).
There are also condemnations of anyone “who consults ghosts and spirits or seeks oracles from the dead. Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the Lord” (Deut. 18:11-12). And in Lev. 19:31, it says, “Do not go to mediums or consult fortune-tellers, for you will be defiled by them.” Some people at that time must have believed in ghosts or the Lord would not have prohibited contacting the spirits of the dead. Commenting on the passage from Deuteronomy, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 2116) says:
“All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to ‘unveil’ the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.”
In an article on Catholic Exchange entitled “Do Ghosts Really Exist?,” Fr. Michael Kerper said that according to St. Thomas Aquinas, “the souls of the dead, who are in Heaven, can indeed manifest themselves to the living on their own initiative. Such appearances, however, are not ‘hauntings’ meant to terrify or tease people. Rather, these saintly apparitions occur only to bring comfort and encouragement, never fear. And remember ‘saint’ means anyone who dwells with God, not just those officially declared ‘saints’ by the Church.
“In light of this, it is theoretically possible for loved ones, like deceased grandparents or children (even babies), to become sensibly discernible to us. While such occurrences may be rare, there is no reason to rule them out. In a sense, these spirits are ‘ghosts,’ but they are benign, even loving.”
As for the malicious and nasty ghosts that are featured in horror movies, said Fr. Kerper, “St. Thomas clearly states that the souls of the dead, who are not in Heaven, can never appear to the living without God’s consent. But why would God ever allow ghosts to ‘haunt’ people? St. Thomas gives two reasons: first, as a warning, and second, to seek spiritual assistance from the living in the form of prayer or good deeds to advance the dead person toward fulfillment in God. The ghosts or ‘non-saints’ may annoy people, but they can never harm them.
“Of course, one can read somewhat credible stories about destructive ‘hauntings,’ but St. Thomas always insisted that these ‘ghosts’ were definitely not the souls of dead people, but something else, most likely demons masquerading as ghosts.”
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