who were the divine fathers of the Synod of A'ice, and of all other holy sjniods ; and being without tlie Church of Christ, let no man administer unto them the things of the Cliurch, or bless them, or offer sacrifice for them, or give them the avridwfwi', or the blessed bread, or eat, or drink, or work with them, or converse with them ; and after death let no man bury them, in jicn- alty of being under the same state of excommunica- tion ; for so let them remain until they have performed what is here written."
(V.) In Protestant Churches. — New relations between Church and State followed hard upon the Kcforma- tion, and new limits were soon assigned to the exer- cise of discipline. According to the view of the AVit- temberg reformers, the ban could have no civil efiect unless ratified Ij}' the State. The necessity of the pow- er of excommunication in the Church was asserted by all the Reformers. Tliey maintained that excommuni- cation is the affair of the whole Church, clergj' and laity (Calvin, Institut. vol. iv, chap, xi; Melancthon, Corpus Ref. ed. Bret Schneider, iii, 965). See Erastian- iSM. Tliey disclaimed the right of vising the excom- mumcalio major. In general, the " Reformers retain- ed only that power of excommunication which appear- ed to them to be inherent in the constitution of the Christian society, and to be sanctioned by the Word of God ; nor have any civil consequences been gener- allj' connected with it in Protestant countries. To connect such consequences with excommunication in any measure whatever is certainl}"^ inconsistent with the principles of the Reformation" (Chambers, s. v.).
The causes of excommunication in the establish- ed Church of England are, contempt of the bishops' court, heres}', neglect of public worship and the sac- raments, incontinency, adultery, simon}', etc. If the judge of anj' spiritual court excommunicates a man for a cause of which he has not the legal cognizance, the party may have an action against him at com- mon law, and he is also liable to be indicted at the suit of the king {Can. G5, 68; see also the Homily On the Right Uses of the Church). The 33d Article of Religion is as follows : " That person which, by open denunciation of the Church, is rightlj- cut off from the unity of the Church, and excommunicated, ought to be taken of the whole multitude of the faithful as a heathen and publican until he be openly' reconciled by penance, and received into the Church by a judge that hath authority thereunto." " By old English law an excommunicated person was disaliled from doing any act required to be done by one that is 7;?o6;;s et legalis homo. He could not serve on juries, nor be witness in any court, nor bring an action real or personal to re- cover lands or money due to him. By stat. 5 and 6 Edward VI, cap. 4, striking, or drawing a weapon to strike, in a church or church-yard, incurred ipso facto excommunication ; ipso facto excommunication, or kit^e senfeniirr, meaning some act so clear or manifest that no sentence is requisite, in contradistinction from sen- tentire ferendm, i. e. when sentence must be passed be- fore the oft'ender be considered excommunicated. The oflfences which, in the reign of Edward III, 1373, were punished bj^ ipso facto excommunication, are enumer- ated in some articuU issued when Wittlesey was arch- bishop of Canterbury ; most of them are such as might be injurious to the persons or properties of the clergy. The document may be found in Cone. Magn. Britt. iii, 95. By 3 James I, cap. 5, every popish recusant con- vict stands to all intents and purposes disabled, as a person lawfully excommunicated. The ecclesiastical law denies Christian burial to those excommunicated niajori excommunicatione, and an injunction to tlie min- isters to that effect will be found in the sixty-eighth canon, and in the rubric of the burial service. The law acknowledged two excommunications : the lesser excluded the offender from tlie communion of the Church onl}'; the /7)-ert^er from that communion, and also from the company of the faithful, etc. The sixty-
EXCOMMUNICATION
;90
EXECRATION
fifth canon enjoins ministers solemnly to denounce tliose who stand lawfully exconiuiunicated ever}' six munths, as well in the parish church as in the cathe- dral cliurch of the diocese in wliich they remain, 'openly in time of divine service, upon some Sunday-,' 'that others may be thereby both admonished to re- frain their company and society, and excited the rather to procure out a writ de excommunicato copiendo, tliere- by to bring and reduce them into due order and obedi- ence.' By statute 62 George 1 1 1, cap. 127, excommuni- cations, and the proceedings following thereupon, are discontinued, except in certain cases specified in the act; which may receive definitive sentences as spirit- iial censures for offences of ecclesiastical cognizance ; and instead of sentence of excommunication, which used to be pronounced by the ecclesiastical courts in cases of contumac}^ the offenders are to be declared contu- macious, and to be referred to the court of chancerj', by which a writ de contuviace capiendo is issued in- stead of the old writ de excommunicato capiendo. For- merly this writ de excommunicato capiendo was issued by the court of chancery upon it being signified by the bishop's certificate that forty days have elapsed since sentence of excommunication has been puldished in the church without submission of the offender. The sheriff then received the writ, called also a signifi- cavif, and lodged the culprit in the countj' jail till the bishop certified his reconciliation. A similar method of proceeding to that now adopted was recommended by a report of a committee of both houses of Parlia- ment as far back as March 7, 1710, and again on April 30, 1714. No person excommunicated for such offences as arc still liable to the punishment can now be im- prisoned for a longer term than six months (Burns, Eccl. Laze, bj- Tyrwhit, ad v.). In Scotland, when the lesser excommunication, or exclusion from the sacra- ments has failed, the minister pronounces a form by which the impenitent offender is declared 'excommu- nicated, shut out from the communion of the faithful, debarred from their privileges, and delivered unto Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.' The people arc then warned to avoid all unnecessary in- tercourse with him. Ancienth', in Scotland, an ex- communicated person was incapable of holding feudal rights, but at present the sentence is unaccompanied by anj' civil penaltj- or disqualification" (Encyclojpmdia Mctro2)oH/a7ia, s. v.).