Q. 1. What is the meaning of "Anointing with oil" in the Catholic Church? Does it have a special meaning?

A. 1. The practice of anointing a person with oil, often perfurmed oil, goes back to the days of the Old Testament. There are severeal meanings for this practice, all of them being related. Those reasons are:

- The anointed person is "marked as a sacred person" to serve the faith community such as in the priestood.

- The faith community is expected to respect and support the anointed.

- Anointing with Oil is a spiritual sign that represents the saving works of the Catholic Church by the authority of Christ, such being implemented through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

- Finally the practice of anointing joins the anointee and the anointing community.