Q's on excommunication?

Question

What exactly happens in this process? Is it necessary? If so, is it more necessary for the congregation or for the believer who takes another path? And finally, does it really matter on the part of the believer who has left, seeing that s/he is not affected by the religion any longer? I mean no disrespect, only seeking knowledge! :-D

I know what excommunitcation means and that it's not an Islamic practice, lol, but I'm asking about how it's done in certain sects and the importance of it to those believers.

Answer 1

Excommunication means to be put "out of communion." This is quite literal, in that it is a ban on the person taking communion in the church, or any of the other sacraments. The person may also not participate as a minister in liturgy (either as clergy, or a lay reader, eucharistic minister, choir singer, etc.)

Most excommunication, in the Catholic church, follows a very simple process, and here is the gist of how it works:

You excommunicate yourself.

This is referred to as excommunication "latae sententiae." How it happens is you sin so gravely that you put yourself outside the community. This is of course only for the worst of sins, such as killing someone, or facilitating someone else killing somebody.

The much more rare form of excommunication is excommunication by the church itself, excommunication "ferendae sententiae" - where a church court or a bishop decrees someone to be excommunicated. The earliest example of it is in the bible, 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, as decreed by St. Paul, who founded the Corinthians church. He wrote:

"It is widely reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of a kind not found even among pagans--a man living with his father's wife. And you are inflated with pride. Should you not rather have been sorrowful? The one who did this deed should be expelled from your midst."

"I, for my part, although absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as if present, pronounced judgement on the one who has committed this deed, in the name of (our) Lord Jesus: when you have gathered together and I am with you in spirit with the power of the Lord Jesus, 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."

You can see by this bit of scripture that the procedure is specifically primarily for the benefit (and salvation) of the one being excommunicated. Paul still expects this man to be saved at the end, but in the meantime, his scandal is too great for things to proceed as ordinary.

The excommunicated person today is actually still expected to go to church every Sunday. They just can't participate on the altar or take communion, or any of the other sacraments.

Excommunication can be reversed, of course, by visiting one's bishop; if he is amenable, he will reverse the excommunication and administer the sacrament of reconciliation.

Answer 2

Excommunication is a religious censure which is used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word literally means out of communion, or no longer in communion. In some churches, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the subject member or group. Censures and sanctions sometimes follow excommunication such as banishment, shunning or shaming depending on the group's religion, its religious community or, its broader religious community.

For some it did not matter. The excommunicated just went on doing whatever it was that got them excommunicated in the first place. For others it was a powerful blow. Excommunication, as far as the Catholic faith is concerned, is expusion from the Church and thus expusion from God. Hypothetically, it was only for the most severe transgressions. Now, though, it is used as a threat against priests who talk to secular authorities about Chruch wrongdoings.

The Roman Catholic Church has an extensive history of the uses of excommunication, especially during the Middle Ages. Popes and archbishops used excommunication as a weapon against high ranking officials and kings who fell out of favor with the Catholic Church. With the rise of the idea of separation of church and state, excommunication no longer has any civil effect.

There are a few offenses for which Latin Rite Roman Catholics are automatically excommunicated (referred to as "latae sententiae excommunication"):

Apostasy (canon 1364),
Heresy (canon 1364),
Schism (canon 1364),
Desecration of the Eucharist (canon 1367),
Physical violence against the Pope (canon 1370),
Attempted sacramental absolution of a partner in a sin against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue (canon 1378),
Ordination of a bishop without papal mandate (canon 1382),
Direct violation of the sacramental seal of confession by a confessor (canon 1388),
Procurement of a completed abortion (canon 1398), or
Being a conspiring or necessary accomplice in any of the above (canon 1329).
These excommunications are not incurred when certain mitigating circumstances apply (canons 1323 and 1324), e.g., depending on age, ignorance, culpability. In short, a person must be old enough, knowledgeable enough, and free enough in their action to incur the full weight of such a penalty.

Answer 3

Excommunication is a religious censure which is used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word literally means out of communion, or no longer in communion. In some churches, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the subject member or group. Censures and sanctions sometimes follow excommunication such as banishment, shunning or shaming depending on the group's religion, its religious community or, its broader religious community. This article addresses excommunication and spiritual condemnation often associated with excommunication, but not the religious censures and sanctions that follow excommunication.

edit:

Censure is a procedure for publicly reprimanding a public official for inappropriate behavior. When the President is censured, it serves merely as a condemnation and has no direct effect on the validity of presidency, nor are there any other particular legal consequences. Unlike impeachment, censure has no basis in the Constitution, or in the rules of the Senate and House of Representatives. It derives from the formal condemnation of either congressional body of their own members.

To date, Andrew Jackson is the only sitting President to be successfully censured, and his censure was subsequently expunged from the record.

On December 2, 1954, Senator Joseph McCarthy (Republican-Wisconsin) was censured by the United States Senate for failing to cooperate with the subcommittee that was investigating him, and for insults to the committee that was trying to censure him. He was cleared of other charges.

On June 10, 1980, Representative Charles H. Wilson (Democrat-California) was censured by the House of Representatives for "financial misconduct," as a result of the "Koreagate" scandal of 1976. "Koreagate" was an American political scandal involving South Koreans seeking influence with members of Congress. An immediate goal seems to have been reversing President Richard Nixon's decision to withdraw troops from South Korea. It involved the KCIA (now National Intelligence Service (South Korea)) funnelling bribes and favors through Korean businessman Tongsun Park in an attempt to gain favor and influence. Some 115 members of Congress were implicated. Also investigated were Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church.

On July 20, 1983, Representatives Dan Crane (Republican-Illinois) and Gerry E. Studds (Democrat-Massachusetts) were censured by the House of Representatives for their involvement in the 1983 Congressional page sex scandal.

Answer 4

Sis, you should know that each Christian sect has its own process. And Islaamically, there is no ex-communication. Some churches stop the person from performing her duties while others set a specific period of time or a specific set of tasks to perform before the person may attend church again.

Answer 5

there are varying tyes of excommunication, ranging from just being kicked out of one church to "excommunication from God" which is a liturgical curse they place upon you to keep you out of heaven--the latter is not practiced much anymore, and was blamed for vampires as part of this liturgical curse was that" in death you shall remain indissolute" which is akin to cains curse to wander the earth for all eternity

Answer 6

Nothing ever happened and nothing will happen.It might create some hurt feelings in the ex communicated.Earlier in christian churches also this was practised.But nothing happened and so they lifted this practice.

Answer 7

excommunication was developed to keep the rest of the flock following the preacher and not to leave the church .....cause then he wouldnt get as much money.

Answer 8

It is strictly some people looking down their nose at you. It has utterly no effect on anything.

Answer 9

in my opinion, it means nothing unless the person wants to continue within that particular cult.

Answer 10

catholic church wanted to be able to control the minds of people so they would not read the Bible on their own and know the truth.
Catholicism was a conterfit pagan religion that was to merge with Christianity and destroy it.