Interdict

2025-10-02T18:51:00Z

2603:7080:64F0:89A0:CDC3:2C65:DB80:1814: /* Malta */ changed knwon to known

{{short description|Type of ban within Catholic canon law}}
{{other uses|Interdict (disambiguation)}}
{{Lead too short|date=August 2024}}
In [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[canon law (Catholic Church)|canon law]], an '''interdict''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɪ|n|t|ər|d|ɪ|k|t}}) is an [[ecclesiastical]] [[Censure (Catholic canon law)|censure]], or ban that prohibits certain persons or groups from participating in particular [[Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites|rites]], or that the rites and services of the church are prohibited in certain territories for a limited or extended time.

==Definition==
An interdict is a censure, or prohibition, excluding the faithful from participation in certain holy things, such as the [[Liturgy]], the [[sacraments]] (excepting private administrations of those that are of necessity), and ecclesiastical burial, including all funeral services.<ref name=Boudinhon>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08073a.htm Boudinhon, Auguste. "Interdict." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 26 January 2023 {{PD-notice}}</ref>

The prohibition varies in degree, according to the different kinds of interdicts. Interdicts are either local or personal. The former affect territories or sacred buildings; the latter directly affect persons. A general local interdict is one affecting a whole territory, district, town, etc., and this was the ordinary interdict of the Middle Ages; a particular local interdict is one affecting, for example, a particular church. A general personal interdict is one falling on a given body or group of people as a class, e.g. on a chapter, the clergy or people of a town, or a community; a particular personal interdict is one affecting certain individuals as such, for instance, a given bishop, a given cleric.<ref name=Boudinhon/>

Interdict differs from [[Excommunication in the Catholic Church|excommunication]], in that it does not cut one off from the communion of the faithful. It differs from suspension also in that the latter affects the faculties of clerics, while the interdict affects the access of the faithful to religious rites. While the clergy cannot exercise their functions towards those under interdict, or in interdicted places or buildings, their powers are not directly affected, as happens in case of suspension.<ref name=Boudinhon/>

== 1917 Code of Canon Law ==

===Distinctions===
Only the [[Holy See]] was empowered to impose a general interdict on a [[diocese]] or State or a personal interdict on the people of a diocese or country, but bishops too could impose a general interdict on a [[parish]] or on the people of a parish or a particular interdict on a place (such as a church or [[Oratory (worship)|oratory]], an [[Altar (Catholic Church)|altar]] or a [[cemetery]]) or a person.<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/LAT0813/_P89.HTM 1917 Code of Canon Law, canons 2269 §1 and 2272]</ref>

===Effects===
{{see also|Legal history of the Catholic Church}}
A local interdict forbade general public celebration of sacred rites. Exceptions were made [[Last rites|for the dying]], and local interdicts were almost entirely suspended on five feasts of the year: [[Christmas Day]], [[Easter Sunday]], [[Pentecost]], [[Corpus Christi (feast)|Corpus Christi]] and the [[Assumption of Mary]].<ref name=Boudinhon/>

Those who were under personal interdict were forbidden to be at any religious rite except preaching of the word of God. While mere attendance by them did not require that they be expelled, those well known to be under interdict were to be prevented from taking any active part.<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/LAT0813/_P89.HTM 1917 Code of Canon Law, canon 2275]</ref>

==1983 Code of Canon Law==
{{main|1983 Code of Canon Law}}
{{Catholic canon law}}
An interdict today has the effect of forbidding the person concerned to celebrate or receive any of the [[sacraments of the Catholic Church|sacraments]], including the [[Eucharist]], or to celebrate the [[sacramentals]]. One who is under interdict is also forbidden to take any ministerial part (e.g., as a [[Reader (liturgy)|reader]] if a [[Laity|layperson]] or as a [[deacon]] or priest if a clergyman) in the celebration of the [[Eucharist]] or of any other ceremony of public worship.<ref name="canon1332">[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P4V.HTM#4V 1983 Code of Canon Law, canon 1332]</ref>

These are the only effects for those who have incurred a ''[[latae sententiae]]'' interdict, namely, one incurred automatically at the moment of committing the offence for which canon law imposes that penalty. For instance, a priest may not deny Holy Communion publicly to those who are under merely automatic interdict, even if he knows they have incurred this kind of penalty<ref>[https://archive.today/20130113095612/http://www.zenit.org/article-34521?l=english Edward McNamara, "Denying Communion to Someone"]</ref> – unless the reason for the interdict is known publicly and is persistent, in which case (though not technically due to the interdict) the concerned people are to be denied Holy Communion by force of can. 915.

However, in the case of a ''[[ferendae sententiae]]'' interdict, one incurred only when imposed by a legitimate superior or by sentence of an [[ecclesiastical court]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4V.HTM |title=Code of Canon Law, canon 1314 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=2012-04-03}}</ref> those affected are barred from Holy Communion<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P38.HTM#5T 1983 Code of Canon Law, canon 915]</ref> (see [[canon 915]]), and if they violate the prohibition against taking a ministerial part in celebrating the Eucharist or some other ceremony of public worship, they are to be expelled or the sacred rite suspended, unless there is a grave reason to the contrary.<ref name=canon1332/> In the same circumstances, local [[ordinary (Catholic Church)|ordinaries]] and [[pastor#Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican|parish priests]] lose their right to assist validly at marriages.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P40.HTM Code of Canon Law, canon 1109]</ref>

An automatic (''[[Latae sententiae and ferendae sententiae|latae sententiae]]'') interdict is incurred by anyone using physical violence against a [[bishop]],<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P51.HTM#24 1983 Code of Canon Law, canon 1370 §2]</ref> a person who, not being an [[Holy orders in the Catholic Church|ordained priest]], attempts to celebrate Mass, or who, though unable to give valid sacramental [[absolution]], attempts to do so, or hears a sacramental [[Confession (religion)|Confession]].<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P52.HTM#1A 1083 Code of Canon Law. canon 1378 §2]</ref>
Automatic interdict is also incurred by anyone falsely accusing a [[priesthood (Catholic Church)|priest]] of soliciting sexual favours in connection with [[Confession in the Catholic Church|Confession]]<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P52.HTM#AH 1983 Code of Canon Law, canon 1390 §1]</ref> or attempting to marry while having a perpetual [[vow]] of [[chastity]].<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P54.HTM#3Z 1983 Code of Canon Law, canon 1394 §2]</ref>

An interdict is also the censure that canon law says should be imposed on someone who, because of some act of ecclesiastical authority or ministry, publicly incites to hatred against the [[Holy See]] or the [[Ordinary (Catholic Church)|Ordinary]], or who promotes or takes up office in an association that plots against the Church,<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P51.HTM#831983 Code of Canon Law, canons 1373-1374]</ref> or who commits the crime of [[simony]].<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P54.HTM#3Z 1983 Code of Canon Law, canon 1380]</ref>

==Notable local canonical interdicts==

=== Norway ===
*[[Pope Innocent III]] placed the Kingdom of [[Norway]] under interdict in October 1198. Although [[Sverre of Norway|King Sverre]] forged letters to show the interdict had been lifted, he and his subjects technically remained under interdict until Sverre's death in 1202.

=== England ===
*[[Pope Innocent III]] also placed the kingdom of [[England]] under [[Papal Interdict of 1208|an interdict]] for six years between March 1208 and July 1214, after [[John of England|King John]] refused to accept the pope's appointee [[Stephen Langton]] as [[Archbishop of Canterbury]].<ref>Bartlett, Robert ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075–1225'' Oxford:Clarendon Press 2000 {{ISBN|0-19-822741-8}} pp. 404–405</ref>

=== Scotland ===
*Following the rejection by [[Robert the Bruce]] (crowned [[King of Scotland]] in 1306) of papal mediation between [[Kingdom of England|England]] and [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]], [[Pope John XXII]] placed Scotland under interdict in 1317<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=HKgMAAAAYAAJ&dq=bruce+interdict+scotland&pg=PA729 The Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, and ..., Volume 5 By Thomas Spencer Baynes, p. 729]</ref> or 1318 because of continuing Scots raids into England; in 1328 the same Pope lifted the interdict in the light of the [[Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton]].<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20101122174143/http://genebrooks.com/scotland.html Scotland in the Hundred Years' War]}}</ref>

=== Hungary ===
* The town of [[Buda]] was placed under interdict by papal legate [[Pope Benedict XI|Niccolò Boccasini]] in 1303, who was sent there to build support for [[Charles I of Hungary|Charles of Anjou]], [[Pope Boniface VIII]]'s favoured candidate for the [[Hungarian Crown]]. The burghers of Buda retaliated by [[Buda heresy|excommunicating the Pope]] and all his loyal bishops and priests.<ref>[[Illuminated Chronicle|The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle]] (ch. 190.134), p. 143.</ref>

=== Italy ===

* Rome itself was placed under interdict by [[Pope Adrian IV]] in 1155 a result of [[Commune of Rome|a rebellion]] led by the preacher, [[Arnold of Brescia]].
*[[Pope Gregory XI]] placed the city of [[Florence]] under interdict in March 1376 during the [[War of the Eight Saints]].
* [[Pope Sixtus IV]] decreed an interdict against the [[Republic of Florence]] in 1478 in response to the hanging of Bishop [[Francesco Salviati (bishop)|Francesco Salviati]] in response to his involvement in the [[Pazzi conspiracy]].
* On 23 June 1482, [[Pope Sixtus IV]] decreed an interdict against the [[Republic of Venice]], unless it abandoned within 15 days its siege of [[Ferrara]]. The Venetians managed to evade it by an appeal to a future council.<ref>[http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&tbo=1&q=%22Renaissance+Society%22+Venice+interdict+%22Sixtus+IV%22+&btnG= David Chambers, Brian Pullan, Jennifer Fletcher (editors), ''Venice: A Documentary History, 1450–1630''] (University of Toronto Press 2001 {{ISBN|978-0-8020-8424-8}}), pp. 219–220</ref>
* On 27 April 1509, as he entered the [[War of the League of Cambrai]], aiming to recover papal control of the [[Romagna]], where Venice had seized several cities in 1503, [[Pope Julius II]] placed Venice under interdict until it accepted peace terms on 14 February 1510, when it was lifted.
* The [[Venetian Interdict]] of 1606–1607 is a better-known and more lengthy case. [[Pope Paul V]] placed the [[Republic of Venice]] under interdict in 1606 after the civil authorities jailed two priests.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rao|first=John C. Rao|date=21 September 2004|title=The Venetian Interdict of 1606–1607|url=http://www.seattlecatholic.com/article_20040921.html|access-date=2021-01-16|website=Seattle Catholic}}</ref>
*In 1909, the town of [[Adria]] in Italy was placed under interdict for 15 days after a local campaign against the move of a bishop.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040915003932/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0403714.htm CNS Story: Holding public figures accountable to church: centuries of precedent]</ref>

=== Malta ===
* On 1 May 1930, the bishops of Malta published a [[Pastoral letter]] which placed voters of the progressive Compact parties ([[Constitutional Party (Malta)|Constitutional Party]], [[Labour Party (Malta)|Labour Party]]) under interdict. This intervention in politics led to Governor [[John Du Cane|Du Cane]] proclaiming a state of emergency and cancelling the 1930 Election on the basis that the elections were not free due to the interdict.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Malta |first1=Times of |title=Mortal sin and conscience in 1930 |url=https://timesofmalta.com/article/mortal-sin-and-conscience-in-1930.330501 |website=Times of Malta |access-date=7 May 2025 |language=en-gb |date=9 October 2010}}</ref> This interdict was eventually lifted on June 3, 1932, however the Church still advised against voting for the Compact parties in the [[1932 Maltese general election|1932 elections]], leading to a win by the [[Partit Nazzjonalista|Nationalist Party]].
* On 8 April 1961, the bishops of Malta personally interdicted the entire executive of the [[Partit Laburista|Malta Labour Party]]. Following this, the bishops would also impose the mortal sin on supporters of the Labour Party, specifically readers, distributors of and advertisers in the Party papers and voters and candidates of the Party. The [[1962 Maltese general election|1962 elections]] were fought with the interdict still in place, with a clear proof of this being MLP supporters being buried in an unconsecrated part of the [[Addolorata Cemetery]] (known as the "Miżbla"), [[absolution]] being denied to supporters of the MLP, and Church bells ringing during MLP meetings in order to attempt at censoring [[Dom Mintoff]] and his party. These conditions led to a win by the [[Partit Nazzjonalista|Nationalist Party]] and the other parties who were in the anti-Communist coalition known as the "Umbrella Coalition".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Malta |first1=Times of |title=Bricked by interdiction |url=https://timesofmalta.com/article/bricked-by-interdiction.359220 |website=Times of Malta |language=en-gb |date=10 April 2011}}</ref> The Interdict was only lifted on 4 April 1969, with the help of Mgr Emanuel Gerada, leading to the Church and the MLP reaching a formal peace.

=== France ===
*[[Pope Innocent III]] put the whole [[Kingdom of France]] under interdict on 13 January 1200 to force [[Philip II of France]] to take his wife [[Ingeborg of Denmark, Queen of France|Ingeborg of Denmark]] back. After a reconciliation ceremony, the interdict was lifted on 12 September 1200.

===United States===
*In 1955, white parishioners had [[Racial segregation in the United States|refused]] a black priest entry to a chapel about 20 miles from [[New Orleans]]. [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans|Archbishop]] [[Joseph Rummel]] placed that chapel under interdict.<ref>[http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&tbo=1&q=Anderson+%22St+Cecilia+parishioners%22&btnG= R. Bentley Anderson, ''Black, White, and Catholic''] (Vanderbilt University Press 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-8265-1483-7}}), p. 146</ref>

==Notable personal canonical interdicts==

Bishop [[René Henry Gracida]] of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi|Corpus Christi, Texas]], interdicted a Roman Catholic politician in the late 20th century for supporting legal abortion; the unnamed individual died under interdict.<ref>[http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=32440 Catholic World News: US bishop imposed interdict on pro-abortion politician]</ref>

In June 2008, [[Raymond Leo Burke]], in his capacity as the [[Archbishop of St. Louis]], applied an interdict to a [[Sister of Charity]], Louise Lears, judging her guilty of three grave canonical offenses against the Catholic Church's faith and teachings. Lears, a pastoral worker and educator, had publicly stated her belief that all of the church's ministries, including the priesthood, should be open to women. Lears received the interdict after attending an ordination ceremony, which the church does not recognize, of a woman to the priesthood at a Jewish synagogue by the WomenPriests movement.

==See also==
* [[Excommunication (Catholic Church)]]
* [[Dima Yakovlev Law]]
* [[Magnitsky Act]]
* [[Magnitsky legislation]]

==References==
{{reflist|3}}
{{Catholic|wstitle=Interdict}}

==External links==
* {{cite web | title= A Medieval Glossary of Terms | work= [[Renaissance Magazine]] | url= http://www.renaissancemagazine.com/glossary/glossaryg-j.html | access-date= 2006-06-03 | archive-date= 2006-06-21 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060621142011/http://www.renaissancemagazine.com/glossary/glossaryg-j.html | url-status= dead }}
{{Papacy}}

[[Category:Catholic penal canon law]]
[[Category:Catholic Church legal terminology]]

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Interdict