This "excommunication" is a word In speech ecclesiastical oft heard, And means the damning, with bell, book and candle, Some sinner whose opinions are a scandal -- A rite permitting Satan to enslave him Forever, and forbidding Christ to save him. Gat Huckle
The act of communicating or ejecting; esp., an ecclesiastical censure whereby the person against whom it is pronounced is, for the time, cast out of the communication of the church; exclusion from fellowship in things spiritual.
The enforced separation of a Christian from her or his denomination, done for the good of the individual and the faith group, with the intent of changing the individual's behavior so that they can be welcomed back. Unfortunately, in many high-intensity/high commitment religious groups, where a member's entire support network consists of fellow members, excommunication can lead to depression and occasional suicide.
Exclusion from the membership of the church or from communion with faithful Christians. Those judged " tolerati" may still mingle with the faithful, but those " vitandi" cannot and are exiled. (MEDIEV-L. Medieval Terms) The formal suspension or expulsion of a person from the communion of the church; in the Middle Ages, excommunication had serious social and legal consequences. (Lynch, Joseph H. The Medieval Church: A Brief History, 362) Exclusion from communion of Church as method of enforcing jusdgements of church courts. (Sayles, George O. The King's Parliament of England, 144) A sentence (in various forms and different degrees), pronounced in a court or by a bishop, which excluded the offenders to whom it applied from the sacraments and church services, or in the case of greater excommunication from law and society, until absolution was granted. (Heath, Peter. Church and Realm, 1272-1461, 362) Related terms: De Excommunicato Capiendo / Signification
the act of banishing a member of the Church from the communion of believers and the privileges of the Church; cutting a person off from a religious society
a censure imposed by church authority which excludes those subjected to it from holy communion and imposes on them other deprivations and disabilities; in the heavier form of this censure, the transgressor was forbidden any intercourse with fellow Christians and deprived of all rights and privileges in the church
the act or state of being formally declared "out of communion" with the other members of a religious group.
The disciplinary exclusion of a person from receiving communion by competent religious authority. It represents exclusion from the corporate life of the church. Excommunication was intended to encourage repentance and not meant to be a punishment.
Literally, "out of communion." This judgment is pronounced by the Church on willfully heretical, immoral, or divisive persons who refuse to repent of their sins, it excludes them from the sacramental life of the Church (1 Cor. 5:1-5) Excommunication is not viewed as eternal damnation but a discipline pertaining only to this life. It is administered for the salvation of the person cut off from communion, with the hope that this act will ultimately bring the sinner to repentance.
A penalty of censure by which a baptized person is excluded from the communion of the faithful for committing and remaining obstinate in certain serious offenses specified in canon law. Even though excommunicated, a person still is responsible for fulfillment of the normal obligations of a Catholic.
an ecclesiastical censure depriving a person of the rights of church membership Source
being cut off from the sacraments and all Christian worship, a penalty used by the Catholic Church. (p. 274)
A church disciplinary action in which a person who refuses to repent of promoting heretical views, or of engaging in gross sin, is no longer accepted as a member of the church. Such a person may not participate in the ordinances of the church, may not teach or minister in any way, and in extreme cases may be asked to refrain from attending church meetings.
the declaration by the church that a person has placed himself outside the kingdom of God by his stubborn impenitence (Matthew 18:15-18). Excommunication is an act of love intended to call a sinner to repentance.
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.
