Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 5.djvu/769

 EXEAT

691

EXECUTOR

ply reserved to the pope and the other seven non- reserved : —

(1) Sess. XXII, c. ii, De ref.: against usurpers, whether ecclesiastics or laymen, of any kind of church property, until the time of restitution and absolution. This penalty protects all ecclesiastical property, prop- erly so called, i. e. of which the administration belongs to ecclesiastical authority, such as real and personal property, revenues, etc. Excommunication is in- curred by usurpers, namely by those who claim for themselves the ownership of this property, and passes on to the successive acquirers of such property until restitution or composition (agreement) is made. This penalty was applied at the time of the recent spolia- tions in Italy and France.

(2) Sess. IV, Ue editione et usu sacrorum librorum. — The excommunication pronounced by the coimcil was restricted by the ('onstitution " Apostolicae Sedis ' ' to those who, without the approbation of the bishop, print, or have printed, books treating of sacred things; this must here be understood solely of the text of Holy Writ and of notes and commentaries on the same (Holy Office, 22 Dec, 1880).

(3) Sess. XXIV, c. vi, De ref. raatr.: against those who are guilty of the crime of abduction, in regard to any woman, with a view to marriage, and all who lend them advice, aid, or countenance.

(4) Sess. XXIV, c. ix, De ref. matr. : against tem- poral rulers and magistrates who directly or indirectly oppose obstacles to the liberty of their subjects in the matter of contracting marriage.

(5) Sess. XXV, c. v, De regul.: against secular mag- istrates who at the request of the bi.shop, do not give the support of the secular arm in re-establishing the clausura or enclosure of nuns. This excommunica- tion Ls abrogated in practice or at least is inapplicable.

(6) Sess. XXV, c. xviii, De regul.. against those who unjustly oblige a woman to enter a monastery unwillingly, or to take the habit, or make a profession, and those who therevmto give their counsel, aid, or countenance, as also against those who, without good reason, prevent a woman from taking the veil or mak- ing her profession.

(7) Sess. XXIV, c. i, De ref. matr.: against "those who deny that clandestine marriages [before the legis- lation of the council] are true and valid ; as ahso those who falsely affirm that marriages contracted by the children of a family without the consent of their par- ents are invalid and that parents can make such marriages valid or invalid."

(8) Sess. XIII, can. xi: "This council ordains and declares that sacramental confession, when a confessor may be had, is of necessity to be made before Commu- nion by those whose conscience is burdened by mortal sin, how contrite soever they may think them.selves. But if anyone shall presume to teach, preach, or ob- stinately to assert, or even in public disputation to defend the contrary, he shall be thereupon excommu- nicated."

C. Excommunications Pronounced or Renewed Sinee the Constitution " ApostoliciE Sedis". — These are four in number, the first two being specially reserved to the pope, the third to the ordinary; the fourth Ls non- reserved.

(1) The Constitution "Romanus Pontifex" (28 Aug., 1873), besides other penalties, declares specially reserved excommunication: first, against the digni- taries and canons of cathedral churches (or those hav- ing the administration of vacant cathedrals) who would dare to concede and transfer the administration of their church with the title of vicar to the person elected by the chapter, or named or presented to said «hurch by lay power; second, against those so elected or presented ; and third, against all who aid, advise, or countenance the aforesaiil ofrciidors.

(2) Excommunication s|)cci;dly reserved against the members of the "Catholic It;dian Society for the res-

toration of the rights of the Christian and especially of the Roman people ' ', and against its promoters, sup- porters, and adherents (S. Peniten., 4 Aug., 187G; Acta S. Sed., IX, 352). Amongst other rights this society proposed to restore popular participation in the election of the sovereign pontiff.

(3) Excommunication reserved to the ordinary against laymen (for ecclesiastics the penalty is suspen- sion) who traffic in Mass-stipends and trade them with priests for books and other merchandise (S. Cong, of the Council, decree " Vigilanti studio", 25 May, 1893).

(4) Excommunication, non-reserved, against mis- sionaries, both regulars and seculars, of the East In- dies (Farther Orient) or the West Indies (America) who devote themselves to commerce or who partici- pate in it, and their immediate superiors, provincial or general, who fail to punish the culprits, at least by removal, and even after a single offence. This excom- munication comes down from the Constitutions of Urban VIII, "Ex delicto" (22 Feb., 1633), and Cle- ment IX, "Sollicitudo" (17 July, 1669), but was sup- pressed by reason of non-mention in the Constitution " Apo.stolicaB Sedis"; it was re-e-stablished, however, at the request of the S. Cong, of the Inquisition, 4 Dec, 1872. This excommunication is non-reserved, but the culprit cannot be absolved prior to making restitution, unless he be at the point of death.

Canonists usually treat of excommunication in their commen- taries on the Corpus Juris Canonici. at the title De senlentia ex- communicationis (lib. V, tit. xxxix). Moralists deal with it apropos of the treatise on censures (De Censuris). One of the best works is that of D'Annibale, Summuta Theologice moralis (5th ed., Rome, 1908). For details consult the numerous com- mentaries on the Constitution Apostolica Sedis, Special works by ancient writers: Avila, De censuris (Lyons, 160S); Suarez, De censuris (Coimbra, 1603); Altieri. De censuris ecclesiasticis (Rome, 1618). — C^. Kober. Der Kirchenbann (Tubingen, 1857); Idem in Kirchenlex., s. v. Bann; Hollweck. Die kirchlichen Strafgesetze (Mainz, 1899); Hilarius a Sexten, De censuris (Mamz, 1898); Munchen, Das kanonische Gerichtsverfahren und Sirafreehl (Cologne. 1874): Taunton. The Law of the Church (London, 1906), s. v. Excommunication; Smith, Elements of Ec- clesiastical Law (New York. 1884); Santi-Leitner, Prcelect. Jur. Canonici (New York, 1905), V, 210-15; Lega, De Judidis Eccl. (Rome. 1900).

A. BOUDINHON.

Exeat. See Incardination.

Execration, same as Desechation (q. v.).

Executor, Apostolic, a cleric who puts into execu- tion a papal rescript, completing what is necessary in order that it be effective. The executor of a rescript may be discovered from the tenor of the document it- self. In matters which regard the government of regulars, the executor of Apostolic Letters is the su- perior of the order, namely, the general, the procura- tor general, or the provincial. Rescripts containing favours are sometimes granted by the Holy See di- rectly to the petitioners; in which case, the executor merely has the office of executing the favour asked for, without any obligation of judicial inquiry into the op- portimeness of the grant, or the reasons alleged for seeking it. Nevertheless, if it is notorious that the favour has been surreptitiously obtained, he must abstain from executing the rescript. Rescripts, how- ever, are not usually sent direct to the parties inter- ested, but, in the external forum, to the ordinary, either of the petitioners or of the territory in question, and in the internal forum, to any approved confessor chosen by the persons concerned. In this latter case the grant is remitted entirely to the judgment and conscience of him who is to execute it. He enjoys delegated power, and must act within the limits of his mandate. The Apostolic Letters must first of all be in his hands before he may act; from them he deter- mines whether he is the one delegated, and what are his powers. He must verify tlie force of the reasons alleged for granting the request, as well as the truth of other statements found in the petition. As a delegate of the Holy See he may, ordinarily, subdelegate an- other to execute the rescript, unless this is expressly