Excommunication

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My question…a Catholic had an abortion sixteen years ago, and went to confession for this sin, and was told by the priest that their sin was absolved.

Having just received information during a RCIA class this week, that abortions are one of the seven excommicable sins and only a bishop can dissolve the sin, I am very confused and disturb. This is extremely upsetting, years ago I thought that my confession was valid, is it not? Am I excommunicated and must I secure the bishop for confession? Should I not be receiving communion? It sounds asthough I’m damned from God and Heaven and my church for eternity. It feels hopeless at this point.
 
You are not, nor were you ever, excommunicated.

One of the requirements for the seven excommunications that you mention is that the person is aware that the penalty for the sinful act is excommunication, yet nonetheless chooses to go though with the sinful act anyway.

The confession and the absolution were fully valid.
 
What are the 7 requirements of excommunication?

Evanescence
 
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kstevenson:
My question…a Catholic had an abortion sixteen years ago, and went to confession for this sin, and was told by the priest that their sin was absolved.

Having just received information during a RCIA class this week, that abortions are one of the seven excommicable sins and only a bishop can dissolve the sin, I am very confused and disturb. This is extremely upsetting, years ago I thought that my confession was valid, is it not? Am I excommunicated and must I secure the bishop for confession? Should I not be receiving communion? It sounds asthough I’m damned from God and Heaven and my church for eternity. It feels hopeless at this point.
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The whole topic of excommunication and when the penalty falls on someone is more complicated than that, and the old Catholic encyclopedia at “newadvent” does not reflect the current canon law of the Church.

However, most priests have the faculty given by the diocesan bishop to absolve from this censure (i.e., excommunication as a result of procuring or cooperating in a “successful” voluntary abortion both knowingly and willfully).

I would believe that the priest who told you that you were absolved had this faculty to absolve from the censure (in addition to absolution of the sin, which is a separate matter) or would not have told you what he did.

If your conscience continues to bother you, approach another priest in confession, ask if he has the faculty, and if so confess. If he does not, he can point you to a priest who does. But again, this is a faculty typically given to all priests today.

By the way, Catholic2003 is absolutely correct, that if one does not realize a penalty is attached to an offense, the person does not incur the penalty.

A serious student of the the broader question of excommunication as a censure or an expiatory penalty is best directed to a canon lawyer.

However, excommunication is a penalty that is only inflicted on or incurred by Catholics. One who becomes Catholic by baptism or a profession of faith does not incur an excommunication for an action committed prior to that. Baptism washes away original and actual sin. In the case of reception into the Church by a profession of faith however, abortion remains as an actual sin and would require confession and absolution from sin, but not absolution from the censure or ecclesiastical penalty.

God bless you.
 
Excommunication
Generally associated with the Roman Catholic church, excommunication is religious censure intended to deprive one of membership of a religious community and, in the Catholic context, preclude the excommunicated from salvation. Excommunication is considered automatic for some sins within the Catholic church, but can also be a formal affair, generally reserved for renegade clerygymen and such.

The word literally means “out of communion”; the outward sign of this loss of community involves barring the person from participating in Communion, i.e., receiving the Eucharist, and as a consequence losing their status as members of the church. One continues to be considered Catholic, but a Catholic who is damned to Hell. In Eastern Orthodoxy, a person may also be barred from receiving the Eucharist. In this context however, this merely changes the member’s classification in the parish from ‘faithful’ to ‘penitent’. Excommunication is often intended to be only temporary, a “medicinal” procedure intended to provoke repentance. Excommunication can only be revoked by the Pope or the Bishop of the offender’s home Diocese, except when the offender is in danger of death.

There are seven sins for which Catholics are automatically excommunicated:

Apostasy, Heresy, or Schism
Desecration of the Eucharist
Physical force against the Pontiff
One who actually procures an abortion and all accomplices
Priest who absolves a partner in adultery
Priest who directly violates the sacramental seal of confession
Both parties to the consecration of a bishop without a pontifical mandate
 
K Stevenson,

First, welcome to the Catholic Answers Forums. I wish you joy, learning, and general good things here.

Second, excommunication is NEVER permanent if the person excommunicated is willing to do whatever is necessary to be brought back into the Church. There was a case a few years ago of a Sri Lankan theologian who was excommunicated over his teachings. He issued a public recantation and was back in the Church in six months or so. And he had been officially excommunicated by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith itself.

I will agree with the other responders that since you did not know sixteen years ago that abortion was grounds for excommunication, you were not excommunicated. You went to confession, received absolution, and that is the end of that.
  • Liberian
 
Priest who absolves a partner in adultery
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Huh? I don’t understand this one…can someone explain it? Does this mean that you can’t be absolved from adultery?
 
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LCMS_No_More:
Huh? I don’t understand this one…can someone explain it? Does this mean that you can’t be absolved from adultery?
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It means if the person that you’ve committed adultery with is a priest, then he cannot be the one to absolve you in case you should repent.
 
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Catholic2003:
It means if the person that you’ve committed adultery with is a priest, then he cannot be the one to absolve you in case you should repent.
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If in fact that priest hears her confession they are both excommunicated and the absolution of the censure is reserved to the Holy See.
 
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