The Church is truly a Mother to us all.  We are truly children of our Mother the Church.  Because of this, analogies of how a mother treats her children are more than appropriate when describing what the Church does.  The same is true when we look at the issue of excommunication.  Excommunication is a word that, when many hear, invokes images of a stern, vengeful pope kicking somebody out.  But this is not anywhere close to what is supposed to be happening in excommunication.

A Path to Healing

The image that I wish to propose that we hold in our minds as we discuss excommunication is the image of a family around a dinner table.  During dinner one of the children acts up and becomes obstinate towards the child’s mother.  And those of you who have children will know this might be a fairly frequent occurrence.  The mother might first ask the child to leave the table and go sit in an area for a time-out.  If the child does not obey the mother might order the child to leave the table.  The wish the mother has for the child in this moment is for the child to have some time to calm down, to realize that what they have been doing is wrong, and then to be welcomed back to the table, welcomed back to the family.  This is exactly what is happening when the Church excommunicates a person.

The Church is a real communion of persons, and there are actions that can truly separate us from this communion.  Just as with the mother and her child, there are actions that justice demands that the obstinate child be taken, temporarily, out of communion with the other people.  We need to understand that the Church wants every single person who receives an excommunication to come back to the Church.  Excommunication is always intended to be temporary, that the only way it becomes permanent is if the ‘child’ never repents and asks to rejoin the community.

Excommunication is also always described as being medicinal.  It is intended to be medicine, to help heal an injury.  It is a way in which the Church helps us to heal by making us realize that our sins have real consequences—which is the first step to acknowledging and confessing those sins and being welcomed back into the communion.

History of Excommunication

Excommunication has a long history.  St. Paul discusses the need to remove people from the community for the sake of their souls in scripture.  In First Corinthians when discussing a case of incest, St. Paul says that the offender “…should be expelled from your midst” (1 Cor. 5:2b). But this is for the sake of their soul as St. Paul explains a couple verses later when he writes “…you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord” (1 Cor. 5:5)  Thus we see that the person who commits this serious sin is to be removed from the community so that they may be saved on the day of the Lord.  It is intended to be a help to the person to realize the seriousness of their sin.

In many years of Christian history the practice of frequent confession was not prevalent.  People would often only go to confession once in their entire lives.  When a person would go to confession they would appear to their bishop, confess their sins, and be entered into the order of penitents.  They would be excluded from the sacraments and any liturgical actions until they had completed their penance.  This penance would often last weeks or even months.  Once the person had completed their penance the bishop would then welcome them back into the community.  The person's excommunication was entered into willingly as a way to cleanse their souls from their sins.  Thus we see that the purpose of excommunication has always been to help the people who incur this penalty in the salvation of their souls.

Types of Excommunication

Any discussion of excommunication would not be complete without at least a brief look at the different types of excommunication according to canon law.  There are two basic types of excommunication: ferendae sententiae and latae sententiae.  The difference is essentially between an excommunication that is declared by the bishop and an excommunication that is incurred by the very nature of the act that has been committed, even if it is never declared by a bishop.  Ferendae sententiae excommunications are declared by a bishop or other competent authority.  Latae sententiae excommunications are incurred because of the very nature of the sin that has been committed and do not need to be declared by a bishop.  An example of this type of excommunication is a person who participates in any way in the sin of abortion.  The serious nature of this sin brings along with it the penalty of excommunication.  A bishop does not need to declare that a person is excommunicated in this situation.  By participating in an abortion the person has excommunicated themselves by the very act.  However, the thing to remember is that this is always intended to be medicinal.  According to canon law the lifting of this excommunication is reserved to the bishop, but many bishops have extended the faculty of lifting the excommunication that comes with participating in an abortion to their priests as well when a person confesses an abortion to them.  For the Church, like any mother, desires only the good for their child, even if it sometimes means a little tough love.

What else do you know about excommunication? Share in the comments!