(
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
meaning: "of a judgment having been brought") and (Latin meaning: "of a judgment having to be brought") are ways
sentences
The ''Sentences'' (. ) is a compendium of Christian theology written by Peter Lombard around 1150. It was the most important religious textbook of the Middle Ages.
Background
The sentence genre emerged from works like Prosper of Aquitaine's ...
are imposed in the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
in its
canon law
Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...
.
A penalty is a penalty the liability for which is imposed , automatically, by force of the law itself, at the very moment a law is contravened; the fact that the offender is subject to the penalty is thus axiomatic. A penalty is a penalty that is imposed on a guilty party only after a case has been brought and decided by an authority in the Church.
The
1983 ''Code of Canon Law'', which binds
Catholics
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
of the
Latin Church
The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...
, inflicts
censures for certain forbidden actions. The current canon law that binds members of the
Eastern Catholic Churches
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
, the ''
Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches
The ''Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches'' (CCEC; , abbreviated CCEO) is the title of the 1990 work which is a codification of the common portions of the canon law for the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in the Catholic Church. It is divided i ...
'', does not include penalties.
The application of a ''latae sententiae'' penalty requires no intervention by a
judge
A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
. It falls therefore mainly to individual faithful who, if they have committed a
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
for which a ''latae sententiae'' penalty is envisaged, must conscientiously assess the existence of some mitigating circumstance.
Penalties in the 1983 ''Code of Canon Law''
The censures that the
1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' envisages are
excommunication
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...
,
interdict
In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits certain persons or groups from participating in particular rites, or that the rites and services of the church are prohibited in certain territories for ...
, and
suspension
Suspension or suspended may refer to:
Science and engineering
* Car suspension
* Cell suspension or suspension culture, in biology
* Guarded suspension, a software design pattern in concurrent programming suspending a method call and the calling ...
. Excommunication prohibits participation in certain forms of
liturgical
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...
worship and church governance. Interdict involves the same liturgical restrictions as excommunication, but does not affect participation in church governance. Suspension, which affects only members of the clergy, prohibits certain acts by a cleric, whether the acts are of a religious character deriving from his
ordination
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
("acts of the power of orders") or are exercises of his power of governance or of rights and functions attached to the office he holds.
''Latae sententiae'' sanctions
''Latae sententiae e''xcommunications
Unless the excusing circumstances outlined in
canons 1321–1330 exist, the
1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' (significantly updated in 2021) imposes excommunication on the following:
* an
apostate
Apostasy (; ) is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous religious beliefs. One who ...
from the faith, a
heretic
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy.
Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...
, or a
schismatic;
* a person who throws away the
consecrated Eucharistic species or takes and retains them for a
sacrilegious
Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object, site or person. This can take the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things. When the sacrilegious offence is verbal, it is called blasphemy, and when physical ...
purpose;
* a person who uses physical force against the
pope
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
;
[
* a person who attempts to confer a ]holy order
In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders include the Catho ...
on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive it;
* a priest who absolves an accomplice in a sin against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue
The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten C ...
;[
* a confessor who directly violates the sacramental seal of confession;
* a ]bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
who ordains someone a bishop without a papal mandate, and the person who receives the ordination from him;
* a person who procures a completed abortion
Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
( can. 1397 §2);
* accomplices without whose assistance a violation of a law prescribing excommunication would not have been committed.
Legislation outside of the 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' may also decree excommunication. An example is that governing papal elections
A conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the pope of the Catholic Church. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church.
Concerns around po ...
, which applies it to persons who violate secrecy, or who interfere with the election by means such as simony
Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...
or communicating the veto of a civil authority.
The ''ipso facto'' excommunication that applied before 1983 to Catholics who became members of Masonic associations was not maintained in the 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' that came into force in that year. However, the Holy See
The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...
has declared that membership remains forbidden and that "The faithful who enrol in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion".
''Latae sententiae'' interdicts
Instances in which one incurs a interdict
In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits certain persons or groups from participating in particular rites, or that the rites and services of the church are prohibited in certain territories for ...
include the following:
* using physical force against a bishop[
* attempting to preside at Eucharist, or giving ]sacramental
A sacramental (Latin pl. ''sacramentalia'') is a sacred sign, a ritual act or a ceremony, which, in a certain imitation of the sacraments, has a spiritual effect and is obtained through the intercession of the Church. Sacramentals surround the sa ...
absolution
Absolution is a theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Priest#Christianity, Christian priests and experienced by Penance#Christianity, Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, alth ...
, when not a priest
* falsely denouncing a confessor for soliciting a penitent to sin against the commandment against adultery
* a perpetually professed religious
Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
who attempts marriage
An example of an interdict that is not but instead is that given in canon 1374 of the 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'': "One who joins an association which plots against the Church is to be punished with a just penalty; one who promotes or moderates such an association, however, is to be punished with an interdict."
''Latae sententiae'' suspensions
Automatic suspension
Suspension or suspended may refer to:
Science and engineering
* Car suspension
* Cell suspension or suspension culture, in biology
* Guarded suspension, a software design pattern in concurrent programming suspending a method call and the calling ...
applies to clerics (those who have been ordained at least to the diaconate) in the following cases:
* a cleric who uses physical violence against a bishop;
* a deacon who attempts to celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
; or a priest who, though not empowered to grant sacramental absolution, attempts to do so or hears sacramental confession (the empowerment or faculty in question is granted either by the law itself, for instance to those who hold certain offices, or by certain ecclesiastical superiors of the penitents and penitents in danger of death can be validly absolved even by a priest without the faculty to hear confessions, and even if a priest with the faculty is present);
* a cleric who celebrates a sacrament through simony
Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...
;
* a cleric who has received ordination illicitly;
* a cleric who falsely denounces before a church superior a priest as having committed the delict of soliciting, in connection with confession
A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of people – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information that ...
, to a sexual sin.
suspension (along with other punishments) is to be inflicted on any cleric who openly lives in violation of chastity and on any priest who "in the act, on the occasion, or under the pretext of confession" solicits a penitent to a sexual sin.
Effects
If one commits an ecclesiastical offence for which a punishment is prescribed, the penalty takes effect only when imposed by the competent ecclesiastical authority. It can also happen that the ecclesiastical authority issues a declaration that a particular individual has in fact incurred a censure. In both these cases the effects are more severe than those of a merely automatic censure.
Those under interdict or excommunication of any kind are forbidden to receive the sacraments
A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of ...
, including the Eucharist
The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...
. If the excommunication has been imposed or declared, others are obliged to prevent the censured person from acting in a ministerial capacity in the liturgy or, if this proves impossible, to suspend the liturgical service; and the censured person is not to be admitted to Holy Communion (see canon 915
Canon 915, one of the canons in the 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, forbids the administration of Holy Communion to those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, ...
).
Remission
Apart from cases where remission of a censure is reserved to the Holy See, it is for the ordinary responsible for its infliction or, after he has been consulted or in extraordinary circumstances in which such consultation is not possible, the ordinary of the locality where the censured person is present to remit a declared or imposed censure established by law. However, an ordinary can remit a merely automatic censure for his subjects, wherever they are, and for anyone present in his territory or who committed the delict in his territory, and any bishop can remit merely automatic censures for anyone whose sacramental confession he is hearing.
If a penitent finds it burdensome to remain in grave sin for the duration of the time necessary for obtaining remission by the competent authority from an undeclared excommunication or interdict that excludes the penitent from the sacraments, the confessor may immediately remit the censure in the internal sacramental forum, while requiring the penitent to have recourse within one month to the competent authority.
Remission cannot be granted to someone who maintains contumacy
Contumacy is a stubborn refusal to obey authority or, particularly in law, the willful contempt of the order or summons of a court (see contempt of court). The term is derived by etymologists from the Latin word ''contumacia'', meaning "firmness" ...
, nor can it be denied to someone who withdraws from contumacy.
See also
* Criticism of the Catholic Church
During its long history, the Catholic Church has been subject to criticism regarding various beliefs and practices. Within the church, this often involves opposition or support for practices associated with traditionalist Catholicism. In the pa ...
* ''Ipso facto
is a Latin phrase, directly translated as "by the fact itself", which means that a specific phenomenon is a ''direct'' consequence, a resultant ''effect'', of the action in question, instead of being brought about by a previous action. (Contras ...
''
* '' Ipso jure''
* Ordination of women and the Catholic Church
In the liturgical traditions of the Catholic Church, the term ''ordination'' refers to the means by which a person is included in one of the holy orders of bishops, priests, or deacons. The teaching of the Catholic Church on ordination, as expr ...
References
Further reading
* {{Cite book, last=Roberti, first=Francesco, url=http://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmora00robe, title=Dictionary of moral theology, date=1962, publisher=Newman Press, others=Internet Archive, location=Westminster, Md., pages=195–6, language=en, chapter=Censure, author-link=Francesco Roberti
Catholic Church legal terminology
Excommunication
Catholic penal canon law