Name two canonical penalties other than excommunication.

• A. Interdict and Suspension
• B. Excommunication and Interdict
• C. Suspension and Deprivation of Office
• D. Interdict and Deprivation of Office

Answer: (A)

In canon law, penalties are sanctions imposed to correct or discipline the faithful, beyond the most grave censure of excommunication. Two canonical penalties commonly listed besides excommunication are interdict and suspension.

Interdict is a sanction that restricts the administration of certain sacraments and liturgical rights in a territory or on a person. It curtails participation in key rites without removing the person from the Church, signaling that corrective action is needed while still keeping them within the community.

Suspension targets a cleric’s public exercise of office or certain faculties. It temporarily deprives the person of the right to perform acts tied to that office or function, such as celebrating sacraments or exercising ecclesiastical authority, for a designated period.

Deprivation of office is another sanction I often see discussed, but the pair most classically identified as canonical penalties apart from excommunication—and typically emphasized in many contexts—are interdict and suspension.