List of cardinals excommunicated by the Catholic Church

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.

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. 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
Cardinal Elevating pope Date of elevation Excommunicating pope or council Date of excommunication Reason Notes
Rodoaldo, bishop of Porto Leo IV 853 Nicholas I 864 Simony
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 pope Reconciled with Nicholas I and Adrian II
Formoso Nicholas I 861 John VIII 867 Various charges Reconciled with Marinus I; future Pope Formosus; re-excommunicated posthumously by the Cadaver Synod
Sergio Stephen V ante 897 John IX/Roman Synod April 898 Role in the Cadaver Synod Later reconciled; future Pope Sergius III
Benedetto Formosus ante 896 John IX/Roman Synod April 898 Role in the Cadaver Synod
Martino Formosus ante 896 John IX/Roman Synod April 898 Role in the Cadaver Synod
Giovanni Formosus ante 896 John IX/Roman Synod April 898 Role in the Cadaver Synod
Pasquale Formosus ante 896 John IX/Roman Synod April 898 Role in the Cadaver Synod
Giovanni Formosus ante 896 John IX/Roman Synod April 898 Role in the Cadaver Synod
Leone Formosus ante 896 John IX/Roman Synod April 898 Role in the Cadaver Synod

11th century

Francisco de Borja died before learning of his excommunication.
Cardinal Elevating pope Date of elevation Excommunicating pope or council Date of excommunication Reason Notes
Hugh of Remiremont Leo IX 1049 Gregory VII/Roman synod of Letran March 3, 1078 Simony Joined Antipope Clement III
Richard Milhau Gregory VII Ante May 7, 1078 Victor III/Council of Benevento August 1087 Joined allegiance of Antipope Clement III

12th century

Cardinal Elevating pope Date of elevation Excommunicating pope or council Date of excommunication Reason Notes
Pietro Pierleoni Paschal II ca.1112 Innocent II/Council of Reims October 18, 1131 Election as Antipope Anacletus II
Ottaviano de' Monticelli Innocent II 1138 Alexander III 1162 and 1163 Election as Antipope Victor IV

13th century

Cardinal Elevating pope Date of elevation Excommunicating pope or council Date of excommunication Reason Notes
Riccardo Innocent IV or Alexander IV Between 1252 and 1256 Alexander IV April 10, 1259 He participated in the coronation of Manfred Hohenstauf
Giacomo Colonna Nicholas III March 12, 1278 Boniface VIII May 10, 1297 He corresponded secretly with Frederick III of Sicily and with Philip IV of France; and refused to surrender to the pope the fortresses that he possessed Rehabilitated by Benedict XI (1303–1304) and reinstated by Clement V on December 17, 1305
Pietro Colonna Nicholas IV May 16, 1288 Boniface VIII May 10, 1297 He corresponded secretly with Frederick III of Sicily and with Philip IV of France; and refused to surrender to the pope the fortresses that he possessed Rehabilitated by Benedict XI (1303–1304) and reinstated by Clement V on December 17, 1305

15th century

Cardinal Elevating pope Date of elevation Excommunicating pope or council Date of excommunication Reason Notes
Louis Aleman Eugene IV Eugene IV December 11, 1440 Role in the Council of Basel Reconciled with Nicholas V

16th century

Pope Julius II excommunicated all cardinals who participated in the Council of Pisa (1511).
Cardinal Elevating pope Date of elevation Excommunicating pope or council Date of excommunication Reason Notes
Francisco de Borja Alexander VI September 28, 1500 Julius II October 24, 1511 Role in the Council of Pisa Cardinal-nephew; Died before his concillar colleagues reconciled
Federico di Sanseverino Innocent VIII March 9, 1489 Julius II October 24, 1511 Role in the Council of Pisa Reconciled with Leo X
Bernardino López de Carvajal Alexander VI September 20, 1493 Julius II October 24, 1511 Role in the Council of Pisa Reconciled with Leo X
Guillaume Briçonnet Alexander VI January 16, 1495 Julius II October 24, 1511 Role in the Council of Pisa Reconciled with Leo X
René de Prie Julius II December 18, 1506 Julius II October 24, 1511 Role in the Council of Pisa Reconciled with Leo X
Odet_de_Coligny Clement VII 7 November 1533 Pius IV 31 March 1563 Apostasy (conversion to Calvinism) Never ordained. Died in exile in England, buried in Canterbury Cathedral

18th century

Cardinal Elevating pope Date of elevation Excommunicating pope or council Date of excommunication Reason Notes
Niccolò Coscia Benedict XIII June 11, 1725 Clement XII May 9, 1733 Financial irregularities Reconciled with Clement XII

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-11-12 22:54 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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