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Understanding excommunication as free, conscious separation from Catholic faithful
archived from: 2004-04-23
by: Pittsburgh Catholic Staff

The word “excommunication” has been in the news both locally and nationally in recent weeks. Reports in newspapers and general media conjure up images of biblical shunning, the Spanish Inquisition or a secretive judicial process that effectively condemns a person to eternal damnation.

All of which has nothing to do with “excommunication.”

“Excommunication” means “out of communion,” and that is the clearest way to think of it. Excommunication describes the exclusion of a person from the community of the faithful, the willful separation of the public relationship of an individual with the church.

All of us are sinners. When we sin, we separate ourselves from the grace of God. To restore ourselves to grace, we seek forgiveness through the sacrament of reconciliation.

But to understand what we mean by excommunication, let’s address a simple question: how would one separate himself or herself from the church?

One way, certainly, is a free, conscious decision to leave the Catholic family and join another worshipping community. Obviously, this does not mean simply attending a service of another religious community as a guest for ecumenical or interfaith reasons, or for a wedding, funeral or similar special occasion. That does not imply a conscious decision to leave the Catholic Church and join another.

But if one makes that conscious, free decision to leave the church and join another religious confession, one leaves the community of the church. That person has placed himself or herself outside the Catholic Church. That person incurs “excommunication” and is no longer a Catholic in good standing with the church.

What does that mean? It means that one can no longer take part in the visible life of the church. One cannot receive the Eucharist or any sacrament of the church, or be a godparent at baptism or a sponsor for confirmation. One cannot take part in the celebration of the sacraments or perform any ministerial roles or public function in the church.

How would one be received back into the church and become a part of the community again? Primarily through an act of reconciliation — going to confession, expressing sorrow for having abandoned the church and asking for absolution and restoration to the Catholic family.

Excommunication is an external judgment by the church that a person has removed himself or herself from the community. Excommunication does not necessarily mean a person is condemned to hell. Final judgment for each and every one of us is rendered by God and God alone.

At the same time, excommunication is rightly considered the most severe judicial action the church can take on an individual. It is a response to only the most serious of matters, such as a formal, public act of consciously withdrawing from the Catholic Church to join or create another religious community.

Our understanding of excommunication is guided by the revised Code of Canon Law, issued in 1983 by Pope John Paul II. The Code of Canon Law describes excommunication in two Latin terms: ferendae sententiae and latae sententiae.

Ferendae sententiae is excommunication imposed by decree after a formal procedure. Examples of the kind of acts that would involve such a proceeding would be a pretended celebration of the Eucharist or confession. In most cases, excommunication would involve a canonical trial.

A few certain very serious acts, however, result in automatic excommunication, meaning the person was effectively excommunicated as soon as the act was committed, if the act was done willfully and freely. This is excommunication latae sententiae.

There are only a few such acts listed in the 1983 code: schism, violation of the sacred species, laying violent hands on the pope, absolution of an accomplice to a crime, consecrating a bishop without authorization from the Holy See, violation of the seal of confession by the confessor and procuring or performing an abortion. While some acts that result in excommunication can be absolved by the priest in confession, others require action by the Holy See.

The most important element to remember, however, is that excommunication is not a punishment for a sin committed. In fact, its primary purpose is what we call “medicinal” — it is meant to cure, not punish.

The goal of excommunication is not to throw someone out of the church. It is meant to restore the offender, bring about justice and establish reconciliation. It is the most serious expression of pastoral concern that the church can give — a public warning that one has separated himself or herself from the church. By free and conscious actions, that person can no longer participate in the life of the church, but the church is taking this action because it wants that person back.

That is the ultimate goal of excommunication: it is meant to bring people back, not throw them out.

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