Anointing a sick priest

In Paul Turner's Blog by Paul Turner

Q:  I am your “student” by studying your liturgical books. I have read your liturgical books and learnt a lot of helpful things regarding on the liturgy of the Church. Today I have a question on administering the anointing of the sick for priests. My question is : why don’t we anoint on the priest’s palm as we do for lay people?  Is there any theological point behind that?  Or is there any history or tradition behind that?  Please help me understand more about that.

A:  Thank you for your comments about my books. There are no longer any instructions for anointing the hands of a priest on the back. There used to be in order to distinguish the anointing he received at ordination from the anointing of the sick. But today a sick priest is to be anointed on the palms like everyone else.