Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)

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Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)

In the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
, the word interdict (in’tér-dikt) usually refers to an ecclesiastical penalty. Interdicts may be real, local or personal. A personal interdict pertains to one or more persons. A real or local interdict, which is no longer a part of canon law

Canon law

Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church churches, and the Anglicanism of churches....
, suspends all public worship

Worship

Worship usually refers to acts of religion devotion typically directed to one or more deity. It is the informal term in English for what sociology of religion call cult —traditional beliefs and practices, the individual study of which is one of the chief concerns of theology....
and withdraws the church's sacraments in a territory or country. A local interdict against a country was to it the equivalent of excommunication

Excommunication

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In the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

Canon law

Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church churches, and the Anglicanism of churches....
, suspends all public worship

Worship

Excommunication

Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word literally means putting [someone] out of full communion....
against an individual. It would cause all the churches to be closed, and almost all the sacraments not to be allowed (i.e. preventing marriage

Marriage

Marriage is a social, spirituality, or law union of individuals. This union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is usually called a wedding and the married status created is sometimes called wedlock....
, confession

Confession

The confession of one's sins is a religious practice important to many faiths, e.g., Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy....
, anointing of the sick

Anointing of the Sick

Anointing of the Sick is distinguished from other forms of religious anointing or "unction" in that it is intended, as its name indicates, for the benefit of a sick person....
, and the eucharist

Eucharist

The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names, is a Christianity sacrament commemorating, by consecrating bread and wine, the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest, and eventual crucifixion, when he gave them bread saying, "This is my body", and wine...
). Certain exceptions allow for baptism, anointing of the sick, and sacraments on Christian holidays.

Interdiction was used by the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City. The current pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in Papal conclave, 2005....
during the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
as a way to influence rulers. For example, Pope Innocent III

Pope Innocent III

Pope Innocent III was born in either 1160 or 1161, and died on July 16, 1216 at Perugia. He was born with the name Lotario de Conti, and he was pope from January 8, 1198 until his death....
placed the kingdom of England

England

John of England

John reigned as List of English monarchs from 6 April 1199, until his death. He succeeded to the throne as the younger brother of King Richard I of England, who died without issue....
refused to accept the pope's appointee Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the Episcopal see that churches must be in communion with in order to be a part of the Anglican Communion....
. Pope Gregory XI

Pope Gregory XI

Pope Gregory XI , born Pierre Roger de Beaufort, Pope from 1370 to 1378, born in Rosiers-d'?gletons, Limousin around 1336, succeeded Pope Urban V in 1370 as one of the Avignon Papacy....
placed the city of Florence

Florence

Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
under interdict in March 1376 during the War of the Eight Saints

War of the Eight Saints

The War of the Eight Saints was a war between Pope Gregory XI and a coalition of Italian city-states led by Florence, which contributed to the end of the Avignon Papacy....
, while Pope Paul V

Pope Paul V

Pope Paul V , born Camillo Borghese, was Pope from May 16, 1605 until his death....
placed the Republic of Venice

Republic of Venice

The Most Serene Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice . It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century AD until the year 1797....
under interdict in 1606 after the civil authorities jailed two priests. Rome itself was placed under interdict by Pope Adrian IV

Pope Adrian IV

Pope Adrian IV , born Nicholas Breakspear or Breakspeare, was Pope from 1154 to 1159.Adrian IV is the only England who has occupied the papal chair....
as a result of a rebellion led by Arnold of Brescia

Arnold of Brescia

Arnold of Brescia, , also known as Arnaldus , was a monk from Italy who called on the Church to renounce ownership of property, participated in the Commune of Rome, and was burned by the Church and had his ashes thrown into the Tiber River....
.

An interdict can also be a penalty against a specific individual or group. It is like excommunication in that the person is barred from receiving the sacraments and participating in public worship, but it does not bar the person from continuing to hold and exercise ecclesiastical office

Office

An office is generally a room or other area in which people employment, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty....
. For a lay member of the church, it is basically equivalent to excommunication, though with the implication that they remain Catholic.

Bishops in the Anglican Communion

Anglican Communion

The Anglican Communion is an international association of national Anglican churches. There is no single "Anglican Church" with universal juridical authority as each national or regional church has full autonomy....
in theory may still possess the power of interdict, although apparently it has not been exercised since the English Reformation

English Reformation

The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th century England by which the Church of England first broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
.

Automatic interdict

Certain offenses incur an automatic (latae sententiae
Latae sententiae

Latae sententiae is a Latin term used in the Canon law of the Catholic Church meaning literally "given sentence".Officially, a latae sententiae penalty follows automatically, by force of the law itself, when the law is contravened....
) interdict:

Physical violence against a bishop
Bishop

A bishop is an ordination or consecration member of the Clergy#Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight....
(canon 1370 §2)
Attempting to preside over or concelebrate in Mass
Mass (liturgy)

The Mass is the Eucharistic celebration in the Latin liturgical rites of the Roman Catholic Church. The term is used also of similar celebrations in Old Catholic Churches, in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism, and in some largely High Church Lutheranism Lutheranism regions, including the Scandinavian and Baltic states countries....
while being a deacon
Deacon

Deacon is a role in the Christianity that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions....
or lay person (canon 1378 §2 1°)
Hearing and/or attempting to absolve confessions while being a deacon or lay person (canon 1378 §2 2°)
Falsely accusing a priest
Priest

A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities....
of soliciting adultery
Adultery

Adultery is the voluntary sexual intercourse between a marriage and another person who is not his or her spouse, though in many places it is only considered adultery when a married woman has sexual relations with someone who is not her husband and in others it is only considered adultery when a married woman has sexual relations with someon...
while in confession (canon 1390 §1)
Attempting to marry while having a perpetual vow
Vow

A vow is a promise or oath....
of chastity
Chastity

Chastity is sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the ethics norms and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion.In the western world, the term has become closely associated with sexual abstinence, especially Pre-marital sex....
(canon 1394 §2)

Other offenses may incur an interdict:

Public incitement against the Apostolic See
Apostolic See

An Apostolic See is any episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the Twelve Apostles. Examples are the Churches in Thessalonica and Corinth and the many others founded by Paul the Apostle, such as the Maltese Church....
or the local ordinary
Ordinary

In those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system, an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office has ordinary power to executive the church's laws....
(canon 1373)
Promoting or directing a prohibited association (canon 1374)
The crime of simony
Simony

Simony is the ecclesiastical crime of paying for holy offices or positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus, who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:18-24....
(canon 1380)

Modern examples

In 1909, the town of Adria

Adria

Adria is a town in the province of Rovigo in the Veneto region of Northern Italy, situated between the mouths of the rivers Adige and Po River....
in Italy was placed under interdict for 15 days after a local campaign against the move of a bishop.

In Malta

Malta

Malta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed country European microstates microstate in the European Union....
between 8 April 1961 and 4 April 1969 the leadership of the Malta Labour Party, readers, advertisers and distributors of Party papers as well as its voters were interdicted. Previously, between 1930 and 1933 interdiction was imposed on the Constitutional Party and Labour. In both cases, the Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party (Malta)

The Nationalist Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the Labour Party . It was founded by Dr Fortunato Mizzi in 1880 as the Anti-Reform Party, opposing taxation decreed by the United Kingdom crown colony authorities and measures to England the educational and the judicial systems....
won elections while its opponents were interdicted.

Bishop René Henry Gracida

René Henry Gracida

Bishop Ren? Henry Gracida was the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Miami , the first Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee and Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi ....
of Corpus Christi, Texas

Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi is a Roman Catholic diocese in Texas. It was founded on March 23, 1912.The past bishops of the diocese are:...
interdicted a Catholic politician in the late 20th century for supporting legal abortion; the unnamed individual died while under interdict.

Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)

Automatic interdict

Modern examples

See also

External links