excommunication

excommunication

excommunication formal expulsion from a religious body, the most grave of all ecclesiastical censures. Where religious and social communities are nearly identical it is attended by social ostracism, as in the case of Baruch Spinoza, excommunicated by the Jews. In Christianity the Roman Catholic Church especially retains excommunication; the church maintains that the spiritual separation of the offender from the body of the faithful takes place by the nature of the act when the offense is committed, and the decree of excommunication (or anathema ) is a warning and formal proclamation of exclusion from Christian society. Those who die excommunicate are not publicly prayed for; but excommunication is not equivalent to damnation. Excommunications vary in gravity, and in grave cases readmission may be possible only by action of the Holy See. Excommunicates are always free to return to the church on repentance. Protestant churches have generally abandoned excommunication.

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"excommunication." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"excommunication." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-excommun.html

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excommunication

excommunication. An ecclesiastical censure which excludes those subject to it from the communion of the faithful and imposes certain other deprivations and disabilities. It does not profess to extend to the union of the soul with God. In the RC Church it is now one of the ‘medicinal’ penalties. It is either declared or imposed by an ecclesiastical authority, or incurred automatically, e.g. by procuring an abortion. All excommunicated persons are forbidden to celebrate the Sacraments or receive them (except when in danger of death), to take any ministerial part in public worship, or exercise any ecclesiastical office or act of government. If the excommunication has been imposed or declared, some additional consequences follow. In the C of E the BCP and the 1969 Canons envisage the possibility of excommunication, but its use is now very rare.

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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "excommunication." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "excommunication." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-excommunication.html

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "excommunication." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-excommunication.html

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excommunicate

ex·com·mu·ni·cate • v. / ˌekskəˈmyoōniˌkāt/ [tr.] officially exclude (someone) from participation in the sacraments and services of the Christian Church. • n. / ˌekskəˈmyoōniˌkit/ an excommunicated person. DERIVATIVES: ex·com·mu·ni·ca·tion / ˌekskəˌmyoōniˈkāshən/ n. ex·com·mu·ni·ca·tive / -ˌkātiv/ adj. ex·com·mu·ni·ca·tor / -ˌkātər/ n. ex·com·mu·ni·ca·to·ry / -kəˌtôrē/ adj.

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"excommunicate." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"excommunicate." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-excommunicate.html

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Excommunication

Excommunication. A censure imposed by the Christian Church which deprives a person of the right to administer or receive the sacraments or to hold office in the church.

The term is then applied to the process of expelling members from the, or a, community in other religions—e.g. the expulsion of a member of the Buddhist saṅgha (monastic community) if he has committed one of the four offences which are known as pārājika (involving defeat): sexual misconduct, theft, murder, boasting of supernatural powers. See also (in Judaism) ḤEREM.

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JOHN BOWKER. "Excommunication." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN BOWKER. "Excommunication." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Excommunication.html

JOHN BOWKER. "Excommunication." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Excommunication.html

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excommunication

excommunication The withdrawing of the sacraments for grave offences. It is part of Catholic discipline and looks for NT sanction to words of Jesus reported in Matt. 18: 17 and to Paul's injunction in 1 Cor. 5: 2. There was a similar rule for the community at Qumran. For Paul, though exclusion was a necessity, sin was a matter for grief not complacency. At the time of the composition of the gospel of John, Christians were excommunicated by the authorities of the synagogue (John 9: 22; 12: 42).

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W. R. F. BROWNING. "excommunication." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

W. R. F. BROWNING. "excommunication." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-excommunication.html

W. R. F. BROWNING. "excommunication." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-excommunication.html

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excommunication

excommunication Formal expulsion from the communion of the faithful, from sacraments and from rites of a religious body. Largely abandoned by Protestants, excommunication has been retained by Jewish congregations and by the Roman Catholic Church. In the days when the Church held great temporal (as well as spiritual) authority, excommunication was a severe punishment for heresy or blasphemy.

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"excommunication." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"excommunication." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-excommunication.html

"excommunication." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-excommunication.html

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excommunicate

excommunicate officially exclude someone from participation in the sacraments and services of the Christian Church. The word is recorded from late Middle English, and comes from ecclesiastical Latin excommunicat- ‘excluded from communication with the faithful’.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "excommunicate." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "excommunicate." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-excommunicate.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "excommunicate." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-excommunicate.html

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excommunicate

excommunicate XV. f. pp. stem of ecclL. excommūnicāre, f. EX-1 + commūnis COMMON, after commūnicāre COMMUNICATE.
So excommunication XV. — late L.

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T. F. HOAD. "excommunicate." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "excommunicate." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-excommunicate.html

T. F. HOAD. "excommunicate." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-excommunicate.html

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excommunicate

excommunicate •defalcate • demarcate • cheapskate •eradicate • abdicate •dedicate, medicate, predicate •indicate, syndicate, vindicate •adjudicate • defecate •certificate, pontificate •confiscate • replicate • explicate •spifflicate • triplicate • implicate •complicate •duplicate, quadruplicate, quintuplicate •supplicate • fornicate •communicate, excommunicate, intercommunicate, tunicate •divaricate, prevaricate •fabricate • deprecate • metricate •extricate •lubricate, rubricate •desiccate • intoxicate • masticate •authenticate • domesticate •sophisticate • prognosticate •rusticate • hypothecate • manducate •educate • obfuscate • inculcate •bifurcate • suffocate • allocate •dislocate • reciprocate • coruscate •altercate • advocate • equivocate •furcate

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"excommunicate." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

The most severe penalty has a long history. (excommunication)
Magazine article from: National Catholic Reporter; 4/5/1996
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Vatican upholds excommunication.(NATION)
Magazine article from: National Catholic Reporter; 12/22/2006

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