Article on Excommunication is a bit off

In this article Cecil wrote:

According to this site that would seem to be wrong.

Encyclopedia.Com had this to say about it:

From the above I gather that being excommunicated in no way helps your admission into heaven but neither does it condemn you to hell…it just makes it a bit easier to get there.

That Catholic Encyclopedia article is pretty good. You might want to have another look at the section entitled Excommunication not only External,

IANACatholic (or theologian) but that section does seem to confirm that are times that church has held that excommunication was a “spiritual penalty binding in heaven and affecting souls”, that “it severs also the internal bond, and the sentence pronounced on earth is ratified in heaven”, and that early popes condemned the idea that an excommunication was only external.

I agree that that quote does seem to be at odds with my original quote. My take on it is that excommunication used to be equated with damnation but even then damnation was more a result of being severed from the church and being unable to partake in its rituals than it was an E-Coupon ride to hell.

My original quote in the OP states that the church “implores God to give the grace of repentance to the excommunicated.” Cecil’s article mentions excommunication “isn’t intended to permanently separate you from the church; rather, it’s a “medicinal” procedure, meant to make you see the error of your ways.” You can certainly be un-excommunicated. COuld you be un-damned?

All of that leads me to believe that excommunication isn’t necessarily a permanent thing that being damned would suggest it is (although it may be permanent and damnation may indeed be the result…it’s just not a foregone conclusion).
(edited to remove gratuitous underlining)

[Edited by Arnold Winkelried on 11-13-2001 at 05:06 PM]

Sorry for the underlining…I noticed my mistake before the browser showed the message as sent but it was too late nonetheless.

If a Mod feels like fixing it be my guest.

Sorry again…

That same Catholic Encyclopedia article seems to consider the original use of excommunication to be similar to a penitent state, with the implication I guess, that one both wishes to regain grace and may do so.

It also mentions that dead folk are no longer considered part of the church militant and can’t be excommunicated, but that they can be forgiven… which raises the amusing possibility of Demon: “Hey, you, Galileo, out of the lake of boiling blood, yer pardon’s come through!”. :slight_smile: