A ''vitandus'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

for "one to be avoided") was someone affected by a rare and grave form of excommunication, in which the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

ordered, as a remedial measure, that the faithful were not to associate with an excommunicated individual in any way "except in the case of husband and wife, parents, children, servants, subjects", and in general unless there was some reasonable excusing cause. It thus imposed a form of shunning, somewhat similar to Jewish practise of '' cherem''.

Recent history

The most notable case in the 20th century of excommunication with the effect of making the person a ''vitandus'' was that of the priest Alfred Loisy due to his writings that opposed Church dogma on Scripture. In 1930, there were only five living who received the interdiction, including Loisy, who never recanted until his death. In 1950, antipope Michel Collin of the conclavist group

Apostles of Infinite Love __NOTOC__ The Apostles of Infinite Love (french: Apôtres de l'amour infini) is an independent traditionalist Independent Catholic religious group active in various parts of the world, with its headquarters being in Quebec. It was founded by Mich ...

, announced that he had taken the regnal name "Clement XV".Michael W. Cuneo: ''The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and Traditionalist Dissent in Contemporary American Catholicism'' (JHU Press, 1999
, ), pp. 121–134

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

laicized him in 1951, and publicly named a ''vitandus'' excommunicate. Since the promulgation of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, this form of excommunication is no longer envisaged in the canon law of the Church. The previous 1917 Code still included it, imposing it automatically (as a ''

latae sententiae (Latin meaning "of a/the sentence lreadypassed") and (Latin meaning "sentence to be passed") are ways sentences are imposed in the Catholic Church in its canon law. A penalty is a penalty that is inflicted , automatically, by force of the l ...

'' excommunication) on anyone who committed physical violence on the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

himself, and declaring that with that exception, "nobody is a ''vitandus'' excommunicate unless the

Apostolic See An apostolic see is an episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the apostles of Jesus or to one of their close associates. In Catholicism the phrase, preceded by the definite article and usually capitalized, refers to the Se ...

has excommunicated him by name and has proclaimed the excommunication publicly and in the decree has stated expressly that he must be avoided". The distinction between a ''vitandus'' and a ''toleratus'' ("tolerated") excommunicate was introduced by

Pope Martin V Pope Martin V ( la, Martinus V; it, Martino V; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Otto (or Oddone) Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. Hi ...

in 1418. It is no longer made in the 1983 Code.

References

Penal canon law Punishments in religion Shunning Excommunication Catholic Church legal terminology {{RC-Canon-law-stub