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Betty Green wrote:

Hi, guys —

  • Does receiving the Last Rites dissolve a person of all their sins and keep them out of Hell?

Betty

  { Does receiving the Last Rites dissolve a person of all their sins and keep them out of Hell? }

Eric replied:

Hi, Betty —

No. If the person is unconscious, the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, (part of what used to be called Last Rites), forgives sins that the person is not unrepentant of.

This is close, but not quite the same as what you're saying.

If a person is knowingly and willfully defiant on a serious sin they've committed, and they lapse unconscious and are anointed, that sin is not forgiven.

If the person is conscious, they need to confess those sins in the Sacrament of Confession (which I'd expect to be done at Last Rites) and the same would apply; if they remain willfully unrepentant of a serious sin, they will still go to Hell.

Alas, we cannot know the eternal destiny of our loved ones without either a special revelation from God or canonization. We can and should pray for them before, during, and after death.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is ideal.

Eric

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