2.- Let us remember that death is a gradual process from present life to apparent death (for example, clinical death), and from death to actual death. Apparent death does not always coincide with actual death, since death is the separation of the soul from the body, and it is difficult to point out the exact and precise moment of this separation. There have been cases of return to life after a clinical death by miraculous action.
There are testimonies of apparently dead people who later stated that they could hear what was going on around them. For this reason, in the event of doubt as to whether a person is dead or not, the Priest can act to administer the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick (canon 1005) if it is believed that the person wanted it and / or asked the less implicitly (Canon 1006). “The Anointing of the Sick” is not a sacrament only for those who are about to die.
Therefore, it is considered an opportune time to receive it when the faithful person begins to be in danger due to illness or old age “(Catechism 1514). This sacrament must be administered, since one of its effects is the forgiveness of sins, even serious ones when the patient has not been able to confess and is unable to do so; in this case it is enough for the person to have performed an act of attrition.
