Choose a topic from Part 3 Suppl:
1. The right of excommunicating is lawfully exercised onlyby those who hold the greater and more general judicial power inthe Church, that is, bishops and major prelates.
2. It can happen that the major jurisdiction required forexcommunicating should exist in one who is not a bishop, or even apriest, as, for example, in a papal legate who is a layman, or in adesignated bishop-elect who has not yet been ordained to thepriesthood.
3. A person who is himself excommunicated, or one who is acleric suspended from ecclesiastical office, cannot excommunicate.Such persons, being deprived of jurisdiction by the penalty imposedon themselves, cannot exercise that jurisdiction over others.
4. Excommunication is a penalty imposed by a superior.Therefore, a person cannot excommunicate himself, his equal, or hissuperior.
5. Excommunication is never imposed on a group as such,although each member of a group may be excommunicated individuallyat the same time.
6. A person may labor under multiple excommunication, forthis penalty may be imposed as often as serious reasons demand it.The effect of a second, third, and fourth excommunication is toremovethe excommunicated person further and further from thespiritual helps which the Church gives her children in her generalprayers and good works.
"It is better to be burdened and in company with the strong than to be unburdened and with the weak. When you are burdened you are close to God, your strength, who abides with the afflicted. When you are relieved of the burden you are close to yourself, your own weakness; for virtue and strength of soul grow and are confirmed in the trials of patience."
St John of the Cross, OCD - Doctor of the Church
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"There is nothing which gives greater security to our actions, or more effectually cuts the snares the devil lays for us, than to follow another person’s will, rather than our own, in doing good."
St Philip Neri
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"God gives us some things, as the beginning of faith, even when we do not pray. Other things, such as perseverance, he has only provided for those who pray."
St Augustine
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