Canon Law Made Easy

Q1: A friend of mine who was raised evangelical, but has recently decided to join the Church, asked me about the Church’s rules (or potential lack thereof) regarding social interaction with excommunicated people. He was raised in a church which, after removing someone from their own community through a vote of the registered church members, would not permit their members to engage in normal social interaction with that person apart from perhaps a casual, polite greeting if a member were to pass that person on the street. They cite Matthew 18:15-17 where Jesus ends by saying, “let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector,” someone with whom the original audience of that saying was not even permitted to share a meal. What does the Church say about how to interact with those who have been excommunicated? –Thomas

Q2: My husband is a non-Catholic Christian, and he and I have been having some difficult discussions lately regarding the teachings of the Church.  He claims that, since he is a “schismatic,” he is not only automatically excommunicated from the Church, but that the consequences of that excommunication would include a loss of the following:
“the sacraments, public services and prayers of the Church, ecclesiastical burial, jurisdiction, benefices, canonical rights, and social intercourse.”  Our main point of contention rests on the final penalty listed, the loss of social intercourse.
My question has two parts:
1) Assuming my husband is excommunicated from the Church (or, rather, has effectively excommunicated himself by being a non-Catholic), what are the consequences according to Canon Law?
2) Clearly, in practice, the Church does not expect me to actually shun my husband, and clearly non-Catholics (even hopeless schismatics) are allowed to attend Mass, but does this mean there is a discrepancy between the content of the law and its application? –Marianne Continue reading →