List of cardinals excommunicated by the Catholic Church

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Only a few dozen cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church have been excommunicated by the Catholic Church. A cardinal is a Roman Catholic priest, deacon, or bishop entitled to vote in a papal election. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals.

Excommunication—literally, the denial of communion —usually means that a person is barred from participating in the Sacraments or holding ecclesiastical office. Ne Romani (1311), promulgated by Pope Clement V during the Council of Vienne, extended suffrage in papal election to excommunicated cardinals in an attempt to limit schisms. [1]

This list includes only cardinals who have been explicitly excommunicated by a pope or ecumenical council, rather than those who (depending on one's interpretation) may have been excommunicated latae sententiae . For example, several precepts of papal election law prescribed automatic excommunication, such as Licet de vitanda of the Lateran Council which prohibited election by one-third, and Pope Pius X's Commissum Nobis , which made the exercise of the jus exclusivae by any cardinal punishable by excommunication. [2] [3] It also does not include excommunicated quasi-cardinals (cardinals elevated by antipopes) or clerics excommunicated before receiving the red hat.

Many excommunicated cardinals reconciled (most often with the successor of their excommunicator) and had their offices restored. Some would later be elected pope; for example, Formosus and Sergius III.

9th century

Pope Formosus, who was posthumously exhumed and tried in the Cadaver Synod, had previously been excommunicated by his predecessor as pope; all the participants in the Cadaver Synod themselves were later excommunicated Jean Paul Laurens Le Pape Formose et Etienne VI 1870.jpg
Pope Formosus, who was posthumously exhumed and tried in the Cadaver Synod, had previously been excommunicated by his predecessor as pope; all the participants in the Cadaver Synod themselves were later excommunicated
CardinalElevating popeDate of elevationExcommunicating pope or councilDate of excommunicationReasonNotes
Rodoaldo, bishop of Porto Leo IV 853 Nicholas I 864 Simony [4]
Anastasio il Bibliotecario Leo IV 847 Council of Rome
Council of Ravenna
Council of Rome		December 6, 860
May 29, 853
December 8, 853		Intrigue against the popeReconciled with Nicholas I and Adrian II [4]
Formoso Nicholas I 861 John VIII 867Various chargesReconciled with Marinus I; future Pope Formosus; re-excommunicated posthumously by the Cadaver Synod [4]
Sergio Stephen V ante 897 John IX/Roman SynodApril 898Role in the Cadaver Synod Later reconciled; future Pope Sergius III [4]
Benedetto Formosus ante 896 John IX/Roman SynodApril 898Role in the Cadaver Synod [4]
Martino Formosus ante 896 John IX/Roman SynodApril 898Role in the Cadaver Synod [4]
Giovanni Formosus ante 896 John IX/Roman SynodApril 898Role in the Cadaver Synod [4]
Pasquale Formosus ante 896 John IX/Roman SynodApril 898Role in the Cadaver Synod [4]
Giovanni Formosus ante 896 John IX/Roman SynodApril 898Role in the Cadaver Synod [4]
Leone Formosus ante 896 John IX/Roman SynodApril 898Role in the Cadaver Synod [4]

11th century

Francisco de Borja died before learning of his excommunication. Francisco de Borja.jpg
Francisco de Borja died before learning of his excommunication.
CardinalElevating popeDate of elevationExcommunicating pope or councilDate of excommunicationReasonNotes
Hugh of Remiremont Leo IX 1049 Gregory VII/Roman synod of LetranMarch 3, 1078 Simony Joined Antipope Clement III [5]
Richard Milhau Gregory VII Ante May 7, 1078 Victor III/Council of Benevento August 1087Joined allegiance of Antipope Clement III [6]

12th century

CardinalElevating popeDate of elevationExcommunicating pope or councilDate of excommunicationReasonNotes
Pietro Pierleoni Paschal II ca.1112 Innocent II/Council of Reims October 18, 1131Election as Antipope Anacletus II [7]
Ottaviano de' Monticelli Innocent II 1138 Alexander III 1162 and 1163Election as Antipope Victor IV [7]

13th century

CardinalElevating popeDate of elevationExcommunicating pope or councilDate of excommunicationReasonNotes
Riccardo Innocent IV or Alexander IV Between 1252 and 1256 Alexander IV April 10, 1259He participated in the coronation of Manfred Hohenstauf [8] [9]
Giacomo Colonna Nicholas III March 12, 1278 Boniface VIII May 10, 1297He corresponded secretly with Frederick III of Sicily and with Philip IV of France; and refused to surrender to the pope the fortresses that he possessedRehabilitated by Benedict XI (1303–1304) and reinstated by Clement V on December 17, 1305 [8]
Pietro Colonna Nicholas IV May 16, 1288 Boniface VIII May 10, 1297He corresponded secretly with Frederick III of Sicily and with Philip IV of France; and refused to surrender to the pope the fortresses that he possessedRehabilitated by Benedict XI (1303–1304) and reinstated by Clement V on December 17, 1305 [8]

15th century

CardinalElevating popeDate of elevationExcommunicating pope or councilDate of excommunicationReasonNotes
Louis Aleman Eugene IV Eugene IV December 11, 1440Role in the Council of Basel Reconciled with Nicholas V [10]

16th century

Pope Julius II excommunicated all cardinals who participated in the Council of Pisa (1511). Pope Julius II.jpg
Pope Julius II excommunicated all cardinals who participated in the Council of Pisa (1511).
CardinalElevating popeDate of elevationExcommunicating pope or councilDate of excommunicationReasonNotes
Francisco de Borja Alexander VI September 28, 1500 Julius II October 24, 1511Role in the Council of Pisa Cardinal-nephew; Died before his concillar colleagues reconciled [11]
Federico di Sanseverino Innocent VIII March 9, 1489 Julius II October 24, 1511Role in the Council of PisaReconciled with Leo X [12]
Bernardino López de Carvajal Alexander VI September 20, 1493 Julius II October 24, 1511Role in the Council of PisaReconciled with Leo X [12]
Guillaume Briçonnet Alexander VI January 16, 1495 Julius II October 24, 1511Role in the Council of PisaReconciled with Leo X [12]
René de Prie Julius II December 18, 1506 Julius II October 24, 1511Role in the Council of PisaReconciled with Leo X [12]
Odet de Coligny Clement VII 7 November 1533 Pius IV 31 March 1563Apostasy (conversion to Calvinism)Never ordained. Died in exile in England, buried in Canterbury Cathedral

18th century

CardinalElevating popeDate of elevationExcommunicating pope or councilDate of excommunicationReasonNotes
Niccolò Coscia Benedict XIII June 11, 1725 Clement XII May 9, 1733Financial irregularitiesReconciled with Clement XII [13]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Miranda, S. 1998. "Guide to documents and events". Florida International University.
  2. ↑ Miranda, S. 1998. "Guide to documents and events". Florida International University.
  3. ↑ Miranda, S. 1998. "Guide to documents and events". Florida International University.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Miranda, S. 1998. "19th Century (795-900)". Florida International University.
  5. ↑ Miranda, S. 1998. "11th Century (999-1099)". Florida International University.
  6. ↑ Miranda, S. 1998. "Consistory of 1078 (V)". Florida International University.
  7. 1 2 Miranda, S. 1998. "12th Century (1099-1198)". Florida International University.
  8. 1 2 3 Miranda, S. 1998. "13th Century (1198-1303)". Florida International University.
  9. ↑ Klaus Ganzer: Die Entwicklung des auswärtigen Kardinalats im hohen Mittelalter, Max Niemeyer Verlag Tübingen 1963, pp. 169-171 no. 86.
  10. ↑ Miranda, S. 1998. "Consistory of December 19, 1449 (IV)". Florida International University.
  11. ↑ Miranda, S. 1998. "Consistory of September 28, 1500 (IX)". Florida International University.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Miranda, S. 1998. "Conclaves of the 16th Century (1503-1592)". Florida International University.
  13. ↑ Miranda, S. 1998. "18th Century (1700-1799)". Florida International University.
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