Excommunication and the Catholic Church

Excommunication. To our modern ears, the very word evokes something dark and foreboding, something out-of-place in contemporary society. Many associate excommunication with the medieval Church, with the Inquisition and witch-hunts, and think it has no place in our more enlightened, tolerant times. Yet this ecclesiastical discipline is as relevant today as it was five hundred or a thousand years ago, an unfortunate last resort in combating the rebellion the Church faces in every age from some of its members.

In this intriguing book, canon and civil lawyer Edward N. Peters offers a compelling presentation of excommunication based on the current Code of Canon Law, answering some of the most commonly-asked questions about this most serious canonical penalty.

Among the questions considered here:

• What is excommunication?
• How is a person excommunicated?
• Isn’t excommunication an offense against Christian charity?
• Is there any support in the Bible for excommunication?
• Can Catholic politicians be excommunicated for defying Church teaching, especially on abortion?

This book is an especially timely resource. It will help you understand the larger role excommunication may soon play in promoting greater fidelity to the truths of the Catholic Faith.