In Catholicism, excommunication is the separation of an individual from the full life of the Catholic Church due to a serious theological idea or practice deemed contrary to the Church. The excommunicated may not participate in the sacraments nor associate with the community of believers.
Historically speaking, “the term (excommunicatus— ἀκοινώνητος) first appeared in Church documents in the fourth century.”¹ Minor excommunications were conducted by local bishops for associating with an excommunicated Catholic. Major excommunication is carried out by the Pope in an official ceremony.
Currently, the two main types of excommunication are “latae sententiae” (automatic upon committing a specific act such as abortion) and “ferendae sententiae” (imposed by a bishop after a warning).
Excommunication is lifted upon repentance and satisfying the demands of the Church, at which point the once separated person is received again and fully recognized as a Catholic. As the Catholic Encyclopedia puts it:
It is also a medicinal rather than a vindictive penalty, being intended, not so much to punish the culprit, as to correct him and bring him back to the path of righteousness.²
The practice of excommunication is not exclusive to Catholicism; variations on the theme are found in other Christian denominations and most world religions.³ In Judaism, for instance, we have the example of “shunning.”
While the intricate history and current nuances of excommunication probably require a canon lawyer for full understanding, another distinction should be made between excommunication (applies to a person) and interdict (applies to a group of people, such as a monastery or an entire town).
Whereas excommunication is exclusively a censure, intended to lead a guilty person back to repentance, an interdict, like suspension, may be imposed either as a censure or as a vindictive punishment.4
Interestingly, an automatic excommunication can be incurred on “A person who attempts to confer a holy order on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive it.”5
Excommunication is well-intentioned with roots, so Catholics say, in the New Testament where wayward sinners were cut off from the community to hasten repentance but its use as a political tool under the guise of piety can be found in the history of the Church.
¹ LAWLOR, F. X., and T. J. GREEN. “Excommunication.” New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 504-506. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 May 2012.
² http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05678a.htm
³ This Wikipedia entry gives a good overview of the situation among various faith groups » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excommunication
4 https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08073a.htm#…
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