Case 6. A Special Interdict

Caius, a missionary priest in a certain diocese of England, wishes to know whether he could absolve a man recently inhibited from the sacraments by the Bishop of another diocese, whose subject he was, provided that he was rightly disposed, whether he was prevented from going to his own bishop or not. For after a threefold admonition the bishop declared: “I hereby inhibit him from approaching the sacraments, and forbid my priests to administer them to him, until he shall have proved his orthodoxy to the satisfaction of his ordinary.” Hence it is asked:

1. What is an interdict, and what are its different kinds?

2. What is a censure by a man, and who can absolve from it?

3. Would the penalty inflicted be suspended if the delinquent appealed to the Holy See, which he seems to have done?

4. What is to be said of the case?

1. What is an interdict, and what are its different species?

An interdict is a censure which prohibits the use of liturgical offices, some sacraments, and ecclesiastical burial. It is local, personal, or mixed, as it immediately affects the place, certain persons, or both. It is general or special, total or partial.¹

1 Manual of Moral Theology, vol. ii, 382.

2. What is a censure ab homine, and who can absolve from it?

A censure ab homine is imposed not by a permanent law, but by a particular precept or sentence of an ecclesiastical superior. Absolution from such a censure can only be had from him who inflicted it, from his Superior or successor in office, or from one delegated by one of these.²

2 Ibid., 373.

3. Would the penalty inflicted be suspended by an appeal to the Holy See?

No, not when the penalty has been inflicted already. In that case there is only an appeal in devolutivo, or a simple recourse to the Holy See.³

3 Bucceroni, Theol. Moral., vol. ii, n. 1096.

4. The case. The question is whether a priest of another diocese may absolve the subject of a bishop who had interdicted the latter the sacraments until he had given satisfaction to his ordinary, and who had forbidden his priests to administer the sacraments to him. The answer is No. Such a special and personal interdict is a censure ab homine, and it can only be absolved by the person who imposed it, by his Superior or successor in office, or by some one delegated by one of these. The delinquent therefore must comply with the condition imposed, satisfy his ordinary as to his orthodoxy, and then he will be able to receive the sacraments like the rest of the faithful.