Vitandus and toleratus

Categories of excommunicates in Catholic Church

Canon law of the Catholic Church

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Vitandus and toleratus are former categories of excommunicates from the Catholic Church, introduced by Pope Martin V in 1418 in his apostolic constitution Ad evitanda scandala.^[1]^[2]

Vitandus

A vitandus (Latin for "(one) to be avoided"; plural: vitandi) was someone subject to a decree of excommunication which called for Catholics to shun them.^[3]^[4]

The three criteria to be a vitantus were:^[5]

the decree of excommunication must be publicly announced
the excommunicate's name must be mentioned in the decree
the decree must expressly state the person is to be shunned

No special method was required for the public announcement; according to the Council of Constance, it sufficed that "the sentence have been published or made known by the judge in a special and express manner".^[6] One common method was publication in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.^[5]

Exceptions to the shunning were allowed for spouses, parents, children, servants, and subjects, as well as where some reasonable cause existed.^[7]

Toleratus

A toleratus (Latin for "tolerated"; plural: tolerati) was any excommunicated person who was not a vitandus.^[1] Catholic law did not require Catholics in good standing to shun tolerati.^[6]

History

The 1917 Code included this distinction. It imposed automatically (latae sententiae) the status of vitandus to anyone who committed physical violence on the Pope himself,^[8] and states that with that exception "nobody is a vitandus excommunicate unless the Apostolic See has excommunicated him by name and has proclaimed the excommunication publicly and in the decree has stated expressly that he must be avoided".^[9]^[5]

In 1908 Alfred Loisy, Ernesto Buonaiuti, Joseph Turmel, and other Modernists were declared vitandi.^[10] In 1930, there were only five living who received the status of vitandus.^[11] Leonard Feeney's 1953 excommunication included only two out of the three conditions (the decree did not state Feeney was to be considered vitandus); therefore he was not vitandus.^[5]

This distinction between vitandus and toleratus "was still found in canon law as late as the early 20th century, but it has been dropped from current law as being unworkable given the way modern societies are set up".^[12]

Consequences

According to the 1917 code (canon 809), public masses could not be held for either vitandi or tolerati. "Private Masses could be applied for tolerated excommunicates (excommunicati tolerati), which included baptized non-Catholics, but for the excommunicates who must be avoided (excommunicati vitandi), a private Mass could be applied only for their conversion (CIC [1917, canon] 2262, §2, 2°). A 'private Mass' excluded any publicizing of the name of the person for whom the Mass was being applied".^[13]

Catholic theologian Ludwig Ott considers that those who had been excommunicated as vitandi were not part of the Catholic Church (contrarily to what some like Hermannus Dieckmann and Francisco Suárez state). Ott adds that those excommunicated tolerati "according to the opinion almost generally held today" were still members of the Catholic Church "even after the promulgation of the juridical judgment and even if they are deprived of many spiritual benefits".^[14]

References

^ ^a ^b Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Excommunication" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
^ Hyland, Francis Edward (1928). Excommunication: its nature, historical development and effects. Washington, D.C., Catholic University of America. p. 40.
^ "Dictionary : VITANDUS". www.catholicculture.org. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
^ Salaverri, Joachim; Nicolau, Michaele (2015) [195X]. "Book III — Chapter I – Article III - §1049". Sacrae Theologiae Summa. Vol. IB: On the Church of Christ, On Holy Scripture. Translated by Baker, Kenneth. Ramsey, New Jersey: Keep the Faith. p. 423. ISBN 978-0-9912268-7-0. OCLC 942788647.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Connell, F. J. (27 February 1953). "What Is Meant by 'Excommunication'? Theologian Explains Discipline of Church". The Catholic Standard and Times. Vol. 58. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-02-03 – via Catholic Research Resources Alliance.
^ ^a ^b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: A. BOUDINHON (1913). "Excommunication". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
^ "Dictionary : VITANDUS". www.catholicculture.org. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
^ Canon 2343 §1 1 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law
^ Canon 2258 §2 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law
^ Lannoy, Annelies (2020-08-10). "An Intricate Piece of Institutional History: The Election for the Chair of History of Religions at the Collège de France (1908-1909)". Alfred Loisy and the Making of History of Religions: A Study of the Development of Comparative Religion in the Early 20th Century. Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten. Vol. 74. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. pp. 75, note 1. doi:10.1515/9783110584356. ISBN 978-3-11-058435-6. S2CID 214466342.
^ "Heretical Priest Placed under Ban". New Britain herald. [microfilm reel], Second Section, Image 22. 1930-12-12. p. 22. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
^ Peters, Edward N. (2006). "Questions & Answers – 28.". Excommunication and the Catholic Church: Straight Answers to Tough Questions. Foreword by Thomas Paprocki. West Chester, Pa.: Ascension Press. ISBN 1-932645-45-4. OCLC 122349065.
^ Huels, John M. (2000). "TITLE III: THE MOST HOLY EUCHARIST". In Beal, John P.; Coriden, James A.; Green, Thomas J. (eds.). New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law. New York: Paulist Press. p. 1098. ISBN 978-0-8091-4066-4. OCLC 52708639.
^ Ott, Ludwig (n.d.) [195X]. "Book four — Part 2 – Chapter 5 – §19 - 3.". In Bastible, James (ed.). Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma. Translated by Lynch, Patrick. Fort Collins, Colorado: Roman Catholic Books. p. 311. ISBN 978-1-929291-85-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)