Show SHERMANS RELIGION the question as to whether general sherman became a catholic before his death by being baptized into the church and whether extreme unction was ad ministered administered to him has caused a good deal of newspaper and general comment and there is a strong dessire desire to know just what religious rite or ceremony was performed in the generals sick chamber in a published interview rev father rudolph meyer of st louis university than whom probably no better authority on the roman catholic church laws is known speaking on the subject said mid as fol lows lowe some ng might have occurred which resulted in the administration of extreme unction without the full knowledge of the ahe facts as they existed this is hardly probable however as the laws of the church as taught to al all priests point out the course to lie followed under such circumstance aj can an extreme unction be administered without baptism bap tien was asked most positively it cannot before extreme unction can be administered the rites of the church must mum be complied with and one of the most important of these rites is baptism no person can become a catholic until he hrs hns received bap baptism tian 21 can an adult be bap baptized tizel without his consent under certain circumstances circumstance i A sick person who has expressed willing ness to affiliate with the church and in the meantime becomes unconscious can be baptized while in that state A verbally expressed presed ex desire is suM sufficient clent to warrant ministering of the sacrament of baptism 11 f if the case is correctly reported can general sherman be buried alit the rites of the catholic church As to that I 1 can only cite the laws of the church no person can be buried with the rites orthe of the church unless properly baptized if the baptism occur after the low loss of consciousness and general shermans Sher mans opposition to such auch rites were known to father tay lor I 1 cannot see how the burial can take place according to the recognized rites of the church but what action the proper ecclesiastical author aties may take is not for me to say or predict As the matter has been reported ir ic the newspapers I 1 cannot consider under my knowledge of the laws of the church that general sherman bherman was a member of the catholic denomination 11 |