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Article: EXCOMMUNICATION: BY ANY NAME, IT'S DEVASTATING.(Perspective)
- Article from:
- Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)
- Article date:
- August 5, 1990
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 Albany Times Union. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Bill Marvel
E xcommunication. The old word still exerts a strange power in this new, skeptical age. Even among non-believers, it conjures up lurid images of arcane Latin rituals, of chanted anathemas, of sinners driven from the church into everlasting darkness.
The reality, say those who have experienced it, is broken families, shattered friendships, depression and even suicide.
Once almost forgotten, excommunication has been back in the news because lately it has become a potent weapon in the Catholic Church's fight against abortion. Among those who have been excommunicated - or threatened with excommunication - have been the director ...