Priests analyze McVeigh anointing

Many Catholics have wondered whether an admitted mass murderer can receive the sacrament and what it means about the state of his soul.

The Evangelist asked Rev. James Hayes, chief of chaplains for the New York State Department of Corrections, and Rev. Peter Sullivan of the diocesan Tribunal to reflect on these questions.

Sacramental rules

Father Sullivan, noting that anointing primarily addresses physical problems and illnesses, said he was surprised to learn Mr. McVeigh had received the sacrament, since he had no physical illness. The canon lawyer explained that the actual text for the sacrament quotes the New Testament's letter to St. James ("If any of you is ill, let them call the priest..."), implying a physical problem.

Still, he added, preparing someone for death is the sacrament's secondary purpose, and Mr. McVeigh was about to die when he met with his lawyer and agreed to receive the sacrament.

"The prayer is for [the recipients] to get all the strength they need during their sufferings," Father Sullivan said. "If I went [to the prison], I would certainly offer everything to him."

Confessing

Father Hayes, a priest of the Albany Diocese, called it the "ideal" that Mr. McVeigh would "confess all his sins and receive the anointing. That's what we assume happened."

But since the matter is between a confessor and penitent, Father Hayes added, there's no way to know what really did happen when Mr. McVeigh was alone with the priest who answered his request just before his execution.

Having spent 21 years as a chaplain at Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock, said Father Hayes, "I have seen a large number of inmates die, especially after the onslaught of the HIV virus in the prisons. A lot of people have made their peace with God. [But] it's such a secret thing between the priest and the penitent, it's hard to get into it."

Conscience

Someone with a mental illness, he said, may not be aware of having done anything sinful -- and so to that person, there is no sin. "You take them where they're at," he stated. "If [Mr. McVeigh] really believed what he did was morally right, for him, there was no sin. You are judged from your conscience. We cannot know the heart and mind of someone."

Father Sullivan cautioned adamantly that "that's not to say what he did was right. [But] Reconciliation relates to what my conscience tells me are sins. He's really wrong, but it's his conscience. It's God's work after that."

Dismas on cross

"St. Dismas was the thief who died on the cross beside Jesus," he explained. When the "good thief" asked forgiveness, "he became the first saint. Christ said, `Today, you will be with me in paradise.' We cannot question God's mercy, who receives it and who doesn't."

Some have complained that deathbed confessions are "too easy," that murderers can repent at the last moment. But only God knows what was in Mr. McVeigh's heart, said Father Hayes -- and those who don't believe it was possible for him to be forgiven are "saying God is not big enough to forgive, no matter what we did wrong. God could even forgive Hitler if Hitler asked for His forgiveness."

The chaplain said he was "absolutely delighted" to learn that a priest had been at Mr. McVeigh's side. "It shows the importance of prison chaplains," he stated. "What did Christ do? That's what we're all about, saving souls."

(06-14-01) [[In-content Ad]]