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 EXCOMMUNICATION

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EXCOMMUNICATION

of a month is not counted from the time of receiving absolution, but from the time of recovery.

VII. EXCOMMUNICWTIONS Lat.e Sententle Now IN Force. — In the preamble of the Constitution "Apostolicae 8edis", Pius IX stated that during the course of centuries, the number of censures lat;v sen- tentiae had increased inordinately, that some of them were no longer expedient, that many were doubtful, that they occasioned frequent diiBculties of conscience, and finally, that a reform was necessarj'. On this head Pius IX had anticipated the almost unanimous request of the Catholic episcopate presented at the Vatican Council (CoUectio Lacensis, VII, col. 840, 874, etc.). The number of excommunications latte sen- tenfia? enumerated by the moralists and canonists is really formidable: Ferraris (Prompta Biblioth., s. v. Excommunicatio, art. ii-iv) gives almost 200. The principal ones were destined to protect the Catholic Faith, the ecclesiastical hierarchy and its jurisdiction, and figured in the Bull known as "In Coena Domini" read publicly each year in Rome, on Holy Thursday. In time, this document had received various additions (Ferraris, loc. cit., art. ii, the text of Clement XI), and from it the Constitution "Apostolica; Sedis" derives excommunications specially reserved, with exception of the tenth. The Constitution of Pius IX deals with no penalties other than censures; it leaves intact all censures ferenda? sententia? but suppresses all cen- sures latte sententi.'E that it does not retain. Now, besides those which it enumerates it retains: (1) the censures decreed (and not simply mentioned) by the Council of Trent; (2) the censures of special law, i. e. those in vigour for papal elections, those enforced in religious orders and institutes, in colleges, communi- ties, etc. As to the censm-es enumerated, they should be interpreted as if pronounced for the first time, and ancient texts should be consulted for them only in so far as such texts have not been modified by the new law.

Thus the excommunications lata; sententiap enforced to-day by common law in the Catholic Church proceed from three sources: (,A) those enumerated in the Con- stitution "Apostolicae Sedis"; (B) those pronounced by the Council of Trent; and (C) those introduced subsequently to the Constitution "Apostolicae Sedis", i. e. later than 12 October, 1869. We enumerate them here with a brief commentary.

A. Exr:ominu»ications of the Censtituiion "Aposto- lic(E Sedis". — These are divided into four categories: (a) those specially reserved to the pope; (b) those simply reserved to the pope ; (c) those reserved to the bishop (ordinarj-) ; (d) those not reserved to anyone.

(a) Excommunications Specially Reserved to the Pope. — These are twelve in number and are imposed upon the following persons: —

(1) ".A.11 apostates from the Christian Faith, here- tics of every name and sect, and those who give them credence, who receive or coimtenance them, and gen- erally all those who take up their defence." Strictly speaking, an apostate is one who goes over to a non- Christian religion, e. g. Islam; to such apostates are assimilated tho.se who publicly renounce all reli- gion; this apostasy is not to be presumed; it is evi- dent that both kinds of apostates exclude themselves from the Church. A heretic Ls one who rejects a Cath- olic dogma. The first to Ijc considered is the heretic who becomes such of hLs own volition; who, being in the Catholic Church, obstinately repudiates a truth of faith. Excommunication is incurred by him, if, with full knowledge, he exteriorly formulates an heretical proposition; and if he .seeks to prop.agate his error he LS (logmalizuns and should be denounced. Next comes the heretic who belongs to an heretical a.ssociation ; for such a person his heretical membership alone is suflTicient to bring him under .sentence of exconimvnii- cation. In his ca.se tlie penalty is iiuurrcd by ad- hesion to the heresy, notably by wilful and active par-

ticipation in sacris (i. e. in public worship) with here- tics; hence the excommunication of those who con- tract a mixed marriage before an heretical minister as such (Holy Office, 28 Aug., 1888). Finally, the pen- alty extends to those who believe in heretics (cre- (Jeiites) and join their ranks; to those who receive them, i. e. who give them shelter in their homes, so as to protect them from the pursuit of authority ; and to those who countenance or ilefend them as heretics and in ^•iew of the heresy, provided it be a positive and efficacious assistance.

(2) " All those who knowingly read, without permis- sion of the Apostolic See, books by these same apos- tates and heretics and upholding heresy, as also the books of any authors whomsoever specifically prohibi- ted by Letters Apostolic, and all who keep, prmt. or in any way defend these same books." After heretical persons come heretical books. The act that incurs excommunication is, first, reading done to a consider- able extent and culpably, i. e. by one who knows the nature of the books and of the excommunication, and who, moreover, has not the necessary permission. The secondary acts punishable with the same penalty are the keeping in one's possession, the prmting (rather the publishing), and, finally, the defence, by word or by writing, of the books in question. These books are of two kinds: fir.st, those written by apos- tates, or heretics, and which uphold and commend heresy, two conditions that must exist simultaneously; second, books specifically condemned, i. e., by mention of their titles, not by decree of the Index, but by Let- ters from the pope himself, Bulls or Briefs, and imder pain of excommunication (for a list of these books see Hilgers, "Der Index der verbotenen Bucher", Frei- burg, 1904, p. 90; and " Die Bucherverbote in Papst- briefen", Freiburg, 1907).

(.3) "Schismatics and those who elude or obsti- nately withdraw from the authority of the reigning Roman pontiff." The schismatics here referred to are of two kinds: those who are such because they belong to separated Churches which i-eject the authority of the pope, and those who, being Catholics, become schis- matics by reason of obstinate disobedience to the au- thority of the pope as such.

(4) " All those, of no matter what state, rank, or con- dition, who appeal from the ordmances or mandates of the reigning Roman pontiff to a future oecumenical council, and all who have given aid, counsel, or coun- tenance to this appeal." The appeal from the com- mands of the pope to a future oecumenical council, not only implies the superiority of the council over the pontiff, but is pre-eminently an act of injurious diso- bedience to the Head of the Church. ^Yere this appeal efficacious it would render all church government im- possible, unless it be accepted that the normal state of the Church is a general coimcil in perpetual session, or at least meeting at short intervals. This extreme Gallicanism is justly punishable with excommunica- tion. The penalty is visited upon all those who have influenced such act of appeal, either by aid, counsel, or support. This excommunication, however, is to be strictly interpreted ; it would not be incurred in conse- quence of an appeal made to a futiu-e pope, the Holy See being vacant, or to a general council actuallj' as- sembled.

(5) ".\11 who kill, mutilate, strike, seize, incarcer- ate, detain or pursue with hostile intent, cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, legates or nuncios of the Holy See, or drive them from their dioceses, juris- dictions, estates, or domains, as also those who ratify these measures or further them by aid or counte- nance." The object of this penalty is not so much to protect the members of the clergy, like the celebrated excommunication of the canon "Si quis suadente di- abolo", of which we shall speak below, but rather to safeguard the prelates or superiors in whom the Church has lodged her jurisdiction. The text clearly