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• v  exclude from a church or a religious community
  The gay priest was excommunicated when he married his partner
• v  oust or exclude from a group or membership by decree

• Since Roman Catholic canon law requires papal authorization to create new bishops, the step would automatically excommunicate Lefebvre and his newly minted prelates.
• Very little of that sympathy comes from the conservative hierarchy of the Catholic Church, which three decades ago threatened to excommunicate any Catholic who joined the army.
• The Catholic Church came under criticism after it excommunicated the family and doctor in a controversial abortion.

• unchurch
• curse

• communicate

News & Articles

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• Top doctor calls bishop's decision to bar Irish nun 'deeply disturbing'
  The former chief of staff at the Phoenix hospital, where Irish nun Sister Margaret MacBride was excommunicated for allowing an abortion of an 11-week old fetus to save the mother's life, said the decision to ban her was "extremely disturbing."
  June 28, 2013 - Irish Central

Quotes

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• Jakaya Kikwete in Reuters South Africa
  If the rebellion succeeds, certainly we will excommunicate them from the African Union,Kikwete told a closing news conference.
• Bruce Chapman in PEJ News
  Unless you get the science right,Chapman says, "it's very hard to contend with the other arguments." "Something's gotta be done. We can't throw them out. We're looking into it, but it appears you can't excommunicate a think tank...
• Nicholas Kristof in The AtlanticWire (blog)
  Criticizing the church's decision, Kristof says, "Let us just note that the Roman Catholic hierarchy suspended priests who abused children and in some cases defrocked them but did not normally excommunicate them, so they remained able to take the...