Why excommunicate people? Is this not a strange holdover from the medieval Church? Excommunication is a punitive device on the part of the Church and is more than merely denying holy Communion. It ...

Many people believe that excommunication is the Catholic Church's equivalent of capital punishment — the worst punishment that the church can impose on a believer. Some even see it as the earthly ...

Although called different things in different denominations, there is a process of separating congregants from the body of their house of prayer. Most religions also offer offending members a way back ...

I asked Mary Ann Sorrentino if she is still — 36 years after it happened — excommunicated from the Catholic Church. It brought a chuckle. “Oh, once you’re out,” she said, “you’re out.” Clearly, at age ...

Cleaners and cooks. Doctors and nurses. Even drivers and elevator operators. The support staff for the cardinals who will elect the successor to Pope Francis took an oath of secrecy Monday ahead of ...

Throughout the extensive history of the Church, numerous events of lasting significance have occurred. Each week marks anniversaries of impressive milestones, unforgettable tragedies, amazing triumphs ...

Courtesy photo Excommunication is the latest step in a long journey by the three companions who, for years, have tried to cut themselves off from the sins of the world, as they see it, so they can ...

Ann Stoltzfus Taylor spent much of her childhood growing up Amish on a farm near Intercourse. All of her relatives were Amish, her friends were Amish and she spent many of her days in an Amish ...

Read full article: Christopher Preciado capital murder trial reaches into its second week Jose Juan Nagera, 38, was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on Sunday, March 22, 2026, jail ...

(RNS) — Many people believe that excommunication is the Catholic Church’s equivalent of capital punishment — the worst punishment that the church can impose on a believer. Some even see it as the ...