Bishop Michael Bibi Explains Acts That Can Incur Excommunication in the Catholic Church

Excommunication remains one of the most serious ecclesiastical penalties in the Catholic Church, applying in certain circumstances to grave acts against the faith and ecclesial communion, as well as particular offences against human life.

In a teaching on excommunication, Bishop Michael Bibi highlighted apostasy, heresy and schism among grave acts that can lead to excommunication from the Church, citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 2089.

According to the Catechism, apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith, heresy is the obstinate denial or doubt, after Baptism, of a truth which must be believed with divine and Catholic faith, while schism involves the refusal of submission to the Pope or of communion with members of the Church subject to him.

Abortion and Excommunication

Bishop Bibi also addressed offences against human life, particularly abortion.

He explained that a person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication, in accordance with Catholic Church law.

The Church’s law on this matter is contained in Canon 1397 §2 of the Code of Canon Law, which provides for a person who procures a completed abortion to incur a latae sententiae excommunication, subject to the conditions and exceptions provided by Church law.

The provision therefore concerns the completed act of procuring an abortion and is governed by the wider canonical rules concerning imputability and circumstances that can affect the application of a penalty.

Return to Full Communion

Bishop Bibi emphasised that excommunication is not understood by the Catholic Church as an irreversible separation from the possibility of reconciliation.

A person who has incurred excommunication can return to full communion with the Church through genuine repentance and reconciliation, including the Sacrament of Reconciliation, according to the circumstances of the case and the requirements of Church law.

The teaching therefore presents excommunication within the broader framework of Catholic discipline: the Church takes seriously actions considered gravely contrary to the faith, ecclesial communion and the sanctity of human life, while maintaining its call to repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation.

The subject also demonstrates the distinction between the seriousness of an act and the canonical circumstances surrounding personal responsibility. Catholic canon law contains provisions concerning circumstances that may affect whether a penalty is incurred, meaning that individual cases can require careful consideration rather than a blanket application of the penalty.

Bishop Bibi’s teaching ultimately points to both dimensions of Catholic discipline: the protection of the faith and communion of the Church, and the possibility of restoration through repentance and reconciliation.