Anathema A term with Greek roots meaning something lifted up as an offering to a deity or deities.
In Catholicism it came to mean a severe denunciation of some theological idea or practice and usually the complete separation of the culpable person or persons from the saving power of the Church.
Essentially, this meant that guilty parties were condemned to eternal fire with Satan and his demons lest he or she repent and display obedience to the Church.
In 1983 the Code of Canon Law entirely replaced the now archaic word anathema with excommunication.
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