Catholic Rites Open for Those With AIDS
Anointing services for people suffering from AIDS and other severe illnesses began Saturday at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Father Thomas Healy said.
The Chicago archdiocese will offer the service, formerly called extreme unction or last rites, every three months, rotated among Mt. Carmel and four other North Side Catholic parishes, Healy said.
He said the services have nothing to do with the Catholic church’s position that homosexual behavior is a sin.
“The purpose of the service is a healing of emotional wounds, spiritual wounds caused by severe illness . . . .” he said.
Most people with acquired immune deficiency syndrome in the United States are homosexual men. Homosexuals make up 5% to 10% of Mt. Carmel’s parishioners, Healy said.
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