“no, according to the Catholic church she has had one marriage. The rest were not sacramental marriages according to the church.
And yes, she can return to the church. If the good thief got forgiven, so can ZvaZva.”
I’m not sure what the pre-conditions are for the Last Sacrament, but doesn’t she have to renounce her current marriage in order to receive absolution? Or are the previous marriages invalid, and the current marriage has been blessed and/or validated? Just asking.
I, of course, hope she is reconciled to Christ and passes with her soul in the state of grace.
All she has to do is renounce sexual relations. Since the marriage is invalid, her sin is adultery if her real husband is still alive, otherwise fornication. If still sexually active, she’d be required to remove herself from the proximate occasion of sin as well and move out. If no longer sexually active, she’d be allowed to continue to live as brother and sister with her 8th ‘spouse’.
If her real husband is still alive, she might be required to restore ‘bed and board’ with him, though that’s not always necessary if there is a canonically licit reason for her separation (ie, abuse, adultery on her husband’s part).
There might also be the sin of scandal, since others might have been led into sin by her example.
What’s important to note is that neither the sacraments of penance nor of extreme unction are efficacious without a firm purpose of amendment.
Anyway, ‘last rites’ would consist of confession, anointing of the sick (extreme unction) and Holy Communion.
most of us don’t know those answers.
But if she repents her sin of irregular marriages, and says she’s returning to God, that should work. You don’t really “repent” the marriage per se, but the irregularities (ignoring the law of God) in the marriage.
Theoretically, if her first husband died, and the rest of the marriages were with clerks at city hall/secular marriage, she could simply get her present marriage “blessed”.
At the point of death, a lot of these legalistic rules can be ignored if a person wants the sacrament...and usually the anointing is done after the person confesses their sins. If they are very sick, the priest might just ask for a sign that they repent, and give them absolution even if they aren’t able to speak or move. figuring God knows what is in their mind.
It worked for the woman at the well, who had 5 husbands and was living in sin...so there is hope for ZvaZva.