Two Apostles, Aided by Our Lady, and Some Canonical Thoughts (The Holy Year of Mercy)

J.M.J. On this great Solemnity, we ask the Ever-Virgin Mother of Our Blessed Lord to help us to imitate Saints Peter and Paul in their charity, service and sacrifice. She will, because she wants nothing other from us than what these two Apostles offered: free, wholehearted abandonment to her Son, Jesus Christ!

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I have been asked to list the four canonical delicts regarding which Pope Francis has given to the Missionaries of Mercy, for the duration of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy (The Solemnity of Christ the King, November 20^th), the faculty to remit the penalty for each, which is automatic excommunication, reserved to the Holy See. (The references to the Code of Canon Law are in parentheses.)

1. Profaning the Most Blessed Sacrament by taking It or retaining It for a sacrilegious purpose (1367). 2. Use of physical force against the Roman Pontiff (1370, §1). 3. Absolution of an accomplice in a sin against the Sixth Commandment (1378, §1). 4. Direct violation against the sacramental seal by a confessor (1388, §1).

 

There are two canonical delicts regarding which the faculty to remit the penalty for each, which is automatic excommunication, remains reserved to the Holy See.

1. Episcopal Consecration without the Pontifical Mandate (1382). 2. Attempted ordination of a woman to the Priesthood (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Decretum generale—De delicto attentatae sacrae ordinationis mulieris, December 19, 2007).

 

There are two canonical delicts regarding which the Bishop of Sioux Falls has given to the priests via the Pagellae for Priests the faculty to remit the penalty for each, which is automatic excommunication, reserved to the Diocesan Bishop.

1. Apostasy, Heresy, Schism (1364, §1). 2. Abortion (1398), “provided that it is the first instance.” (Diocese of Sioux Falls, Pagellae for Priests, page two, 2007)

 

There is one canonical delict regarding which the faculty to remit the penalty, which is automatic excommunication, remains reserved to the Diocesan Bishop.

1. Recording, by means of any technical device, what the priest or the penitent says in a Sacramental Confession (either real or simulated) by oneself or by another person, or who divulges it through the means of social communication (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Decretum de sacramenti Paenitentiae dignitate tuenda, September 23, 1988).

 

While every canonical delict is a sin, not every sin is a canonical delict to which a penalty is attached. A confessor listens carefully to the penitent to determine if a canonical delict is present.