Abstract

Matthias Ambros:
Did the Pope Excommunicate the Mafia?
(FKTh 2015-1, p. 45–57)

Starting from a sermon by pope Francis, in which he spoke that the Mafiosi were excommunicated, will be asked, if this is to be understood in the sense of ecclesiastical penal law. From the context of the Corpus Christi sermon, the author concludes that ist is not an excommunication in the strict sense, but a sacrament barrier according to the canons 915 and 916 CIC. These standards are otherwise always called in the context of the discussion about the Eucharist prohibition of remarried divorced Catholics. Therefore does the Pope with his homily an actual pulse to rediscover the intrinsic connection between penitence and the Eucharist, which applies to anyone who wants to receive the sacraments.