News reports out of Austria say that an auxiliary bishop of Vienna excommunicated the owner of a shopping mall who rented space to an abortion clinic. Ed Peters says, Not so fast.
First, the canon under which Bp. Laun is said to have acted is 1983 CIC 1041, n. 1. Although related to abortion and homicide, this is not an excommunciation canon, but rather, an “irregularity for ordination” provision. Somebody (the bishop or the press) is way, way off in citing it. Second, auxiliary bishops are not usually the lead players in major sanctions cases, and there is some ambiguity as to whether an auxiliary bishop can even take this kind of step under 1983 CIC 1341; presumably, diocesan bishops are the decision-makers here.
Bottom line, though, is that there are narrow allowances for excommunication in canon law and this doesn’t qualify.
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There’s not even an indirect law covering this? That’s hard to believe…
I’m fairly certain there is no such thing as an indirect law in canon law. Canon law is much more compact and direct than US civil law.
Right, Dom.
So there would have to be a Canon law against something as specific as leasing space for the purpose of performing abortions? Nah…
It’s just hard to believe that this doesn’t fall under the umbrella of some other law. There are so MANY of them, after all!