Here is the pertinent decree:"Further, since olive oil, which hitherto had been prescribed for the valid administration of the sacrament, is unobtainable or difficult to obtain in some parts of the world, we decreed, at the request of numerous bishops, that in the future, according to the circuмstances, oil of another sort could also be used, provided it were obtained from plants, inasmuch as this more closely resembles the matter indicated in Holy Scripture...."

Fr. Hesse is speaking truth. In keeping with the ambiguity of all things V2, the pope said; "according to the circuмstances," which literally means anything anyone wants it to mean, including "use whatever plant based oil you want." In doing so, he breaks from Scripture and tradition because he decides it's good as long as it only resembles the oil used in Scripture, much the same as the new mass only resembles the True Mass.

Consider one reason for this change from using only blessed olive oil is that the Sacrament of Extreme Unction itself was changed, actually it was altogether replaced with the sacrament of "Anointing of the Sick," which is something else he could not do - but did anyway. So with the new sacrament comes new oil.

Think about it.           

Read over what Pope Paul says again. He makes it clear that olive oil is the prescribed oil of the Church as "indicated in Holy Scripture". He makes it clear that the circuмstances pertaining to the use of another plant-based oil (that closely resembles olive oil) are only where olive oil "is unattainable or difficult to obtain". In other words, cases of necessity. As olive oil (as holy oils) was the precise Matter instituted by the Church, the Church has the power and authority to make such exceptions. Fr. Hesse, in claiming that such exceptions render a Sacrament invalid, has committed a grave error.

The changes in the Sacrament of Extreme Unction are a separate issue which I will tackle in a later post. Suffice to say, that the changes Pope Paul made were within his authority and did not invalidate the sacrament.

As olive oil (as holy oils) was the precise Matter instituted by the Church

There are no facts to support this claim.  Olive oil, as a holy oil, was used as far back as Adam to bless things.  The olive branch with the dove, to Noah.  King David was annointed with olive oil.  The Jєωιѕн religion only used olive oil.  The Church did not invent this.

  But that's the main question....is olive oil a substantial part of these sacraments?  Based on it's spiritual significance, it's use in the Jєωιѕн law and it's use in Scripture, then I'd say "yes" there is a clear and consistent use of olive oil and this came from DIVINE ORDER (going back to Adam/Eden).  It was not a rule the Church created.  Therefore, the Church is not free to change it.

Olive oil is native to the Holy Land. As it is native it became the traditional oil to use within the Old Testament Church. It was the Church that elevated this traditional oil to effect a Sacrament in conjunction with the Form. Yes, olive oil was used down through the centuries, however it was never used as a Matter. It was the Church - the Vicar of Christ - who decreed this.

Is the pope subject to canon law?

Yes, the Pope is subject to Canon Law. However, as the supreme authority, he has the power to interpret and modify Canon Law as he sees fit.

Quote from: Pax Vobis 2025-08-18, 7:23:26 AM
  But that's the main question....is olive oil a substantial part of these sacraments?  Based on it's spiritual significance, it's use in the Jєωιѕн law and it's use in Scripture, then I'd say "yes" there is a clear and consistent use of olive oil and this came from DIVINE ORDER (going back to Adam/Eden).  It was not a rule the Church created.  Therefore, the Church is not free to change it.

Olive oil is the proper and ordinary matter, established by apostolic and ecclesiastical authority, but it does not belong to the unchangeable substance instituted by Christ. As +Pius XII teaches, “the Church has no power over the substance of the sacraments… but the Church does have power over those things which it has established” (Sacramentum Ordinis, 42). Thus, in necessity another vegetable oil suffices, since the Church can dispense from her own determinations but never from what Christ Himself instituted.

Ok, then post the decree.

I can give you Trent: "Now, this sacred unction of the sick (note the wording) was instituted by Christ (and) recommended and promulgated to the faithful by James the apostle (early bishop of the early Church): "Let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the lord: the prayer of faith shall save the sick man; and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he is in sins, they shall be forgiven him." (Note: the words of James the Apostle, not Christ). In which words, as the Church has learned from apostolic tradition, received from hand to hand, he teaches the matter, the form and proper minister, and the effect of this salutary sacrament." Ref: 'On the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, 14, second session.

Trent makes clear that the Matter and Form was promulgated by James the Apostle, a bishop of the Church. We have no precise Matter or Form from Christ as we do for Baptism and Holy Eucharist. We rely on the Church for this mandate.

I can give you Trent: "Now, this sacred unction of the sick (note the wording) was instituted by Christ (and) recommended and promulgated to the faithful by James the apostle (early bishop of the early Church): "Let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the lord: the prayer of faith shall save the sick man; and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he is in sins, they shall be forgiven him." (Note: the words of James the Apostle, not Christ). 

  These words are SCRIPTURE!  James 5:14.  They are from the Holy Ghost, who inspired St James to write them.  This is not from the Church, but from God.

Well, what you are doing is giving meanings to his words that his words do not say, while failing to avert to what his words do say.

As I already pointed out, he is purposely ambiguous and does not make it clear that "the circuмstances pertaining to the use of another plant-based oil (that closely resembles olive oil) are only where olive oil "is unattainable or difficult to obtain"."  I admit it is easy to take it that way, but he leaves it wide open so as to mean whatever anyone wants it to mean.

Again, what he does say that actually IS clear, is that he is breaking away from Scripture. To break away from Scripture is to break away from tradition. By doing this he is doing what is diametrically opposed to what popes, as Christ's representatives, are supposed to do. 

If you isolate it from "since olive oil...is unobtainable or difficult to obtain in some parts of the world" then yes, the word "circuмstances" could be interpreted any which way. However, we are not Protestants. We read the whole which is interconnected; the reason for the exception to the rule is established at the outset. That determines how we are to mean it.  

Stubborn, you are being stubborn. Pope Pius XII has set down that whatever the Church instituted, promulgated, decreed, the Church can change and modify where a need arises. As it was St. James (early Church) that promulgated the use of oil (the general consensus that he meant the native oil) as the Matter in Extreme Unction (Anointing of the Sick as even Trent calls it), then it is the Church that can modify it.

I repeat, the use of another plant-based oil, in cases of need, does not render a Sacrament invalid. Fr. Hesse, as a lone, wandering priest of suspect background, commits a grave error in stating otherwise and commits a grave injustice to Pope Paul by implying, without any clarification, that the Holy Father changed the matter from Olive oil to any old vegetable oil.