Another loss in priest shortage: Anointing sick

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The shortage of Roman Catholic priests has been a problem for years.

But some ill believers and hospital officials say it’s getting harder than ever to have a priest on hand for patients facing dire circumstances.

The church no longer performs the deathbed ritual known as the Last Rites. The new sacrament is called Anointing the Sick.

John Baus says he was unexpectedly rushed to an emergency room with a heart attack on his 82nd birthday. As doctors struggled to keep him alive, there was no priest available to perform the sacrament.

He survived, but the experience left him and his wife shaken.

Even in the heavily Roman Catholic New Orleans area, only five the 23 hospitals now have Catholic chaplains.