we have the fine art of splitting hairs here
excommunication, to most, means severing the bonds that make one a member of
the church. there are two types--one is incurred automatically, the other
has to be formally declared.
RCs also have banning from communion that is different from excommunication.
people can be declared barred from the sacrament but still considered
members of the church. the biggest group are people who are in irregular
marriages. a bishop who wanted to make an example of those publicly
disagreeing with the current teaching on gays and lesbians could probably do
the same.
I don't think liturgy is the place to work out these issues, though I don't
think we can sanitize liturgy, either.
Maureen Lahiff
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