Excommunication can be a frightening word. It even looks disturbing written out on paper: E.x.c.o.m.m.u.n.i.c.a.t.i.o.n. The reality is no less grave. We've all seen that arresting scene from the movie Becket, when the titular archbishop excommunicates Lord Gilbert. The ominous snuffing out of candles in the medieval liturgy evokes the spiritual darkness that those dismissed from the Church's communion enter.
But to understand what excommunication is, we should not focus principally on this darkness. Darkness is not the point, at least for the Church's pastors. Light is the point. While excommunication excludes a Catholic from many of the Church's spiritual goods, its purpose in fact is to encourage conversion, the excommunicate's return to the light of truth and the communion of grace.
Given that excommunication has been in the news lately, it might be helpful to review just what excommunication is and the purpose that it serves today in the life of the Church.
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