Excommuication charges abortion

[billcu1]

I know one offense that brings immediate excommunication and that’s abortion. But any other things? When excommunicated does that mean the faithful can’t fellowship with you? I know you have to get absolution and the excommunication lifted. And in the case of abortion issues I think most Bishops in their communities have allowed the presbyters to do this. I think anyway.

What else can get you excommunicated and how are you treated during that?

Bill

 

[powerofk]

I don’t know who lifts different excommunications - some can be lifted by one’s ordinary (bishop), others have to be lifted by the Holy See. I don’t know which ones are lifted by which, but here are a few other sins that incur automatic excommunication:

1. breaking the seal of confession, even if under legal compulsion.
2. directly participating in an illicit/invalid ordination ceremony (e.g., an ordination for “womenpriests”).
3. impersonating a priest (leading a congregation to believe that you are a priest and, for example, confecting the Eucharist or hearing confessions)
4. belonging to the mafia (added by Pope Francis)

 

[Tarpeian_Rock]

I believe that in the U.S. most Ordinaries have delegated to their priests the power to remove in Confession an abortion-related excommunication.

 

[Corki]

I know one offense that brings immediate excommunication and that’s abortion. But any other things? When excommunicated does that mean the faithful can’t fellowship with you? I know you have to get absolution and the excommunication lifted. And in the case of abortion issues I think most Bishops in their communities have allowed the presbyters to do this. I think anyway.

What else can get you excommunicated and how are you treated during that?

Bill

To the bolded, yes, absolutely. Excommunication isn’t the same as shunning. And excommunication doesn’t excuse you from other obligations as a Catholic such as Mass attendance and raising your children Catholic.

In cases of automatic excommunication, most people won’t even know about it so a person wouldn’t be treated differently. There are rare public excommunications and a few cases where an automatic excommunication is made public for the good of the faithful. In those cases, the hope would be that a person’s pastor would be pulling out all the stops to get him/her back into communion with the Church.

 

[thistle]

I know one offense that brings immediate excommunication and that’s abortion. But any other things? When excommunicated does that mean the faithful can’t fellowship with you? I know you have to get absolution and the excommunication lifted. And in the case of abortion issues I think most Bishops in their communities have allowed the presbyters to do this. I think anyway.

What else can get you excommunicated and how are you treated during that?

Bill

A woman who has had an abortion is automatically excommunicated only IF she knows abortion is a sin of grave matter and goes ahead thereby committing a mortal sin AND IF she knows it carries such a penalty.
If she knows abortion is a sin of grave matter and goes ahead committing a mortal sin but does not know it carries the penalty of excommunication she is not excommunicated, just as if she does not know abortion is a sin of grave matter then she has not even committed a mortal sin by having an abortion.

As for the full list of excommunication offenses:

Ferendae Sententiae Excommunication (requires formal proceedings):

Canon 1378: The pretended celebration of the Eucharist or of sacramental Confession
Canon 1388: Violation of the seal of Confession by an interpreter

Latae Sententiae Excommunication (automatic):

Canon 1364: Apostasy, heresy or schism
Canon 1367: Violation of the Sacred Species
Canon 1370: Laying violent hands on the Pope
Canon 1378: Absolution of an accomplice
Canon 1382: Episcopal consecration without authorization from the Holy See
Canon 1388: Violation of the seal of Confession by a confessor
Canon 1398: Procuring abortion