Interdict

Interdict, in the Roman Catholic church, penalty consisting of the withdrawal of the administration of the sacraments and of all public religious services. Interdicts apply to individuals or groups of persons, to single places or entire nations. Depending upon their classification, they are imposed by a bishop or pope. The classifications overlap. A general interdict, which must be issued by the pope, may be personal or local, that is, applied to all the persons of an area or to all the sacred institutions of an area. A particular interdict may be personal, affecting a named individual wherever he or she may be, or local, affecting a given place. The services suspended vary as well, and the ban may be lifted on certain feast days. It is lifted entirely after the offender expresses repentance.

In the medieval church, the interdict was used as an ordinary censure. Scotland was placed under interdict in 1180 by Pope Alexander III because of a controversy over succession to the bishopric of Saint Andrews. Pope Innocent III imposed an interdict on England in 1208 when King John of England refused admittance to the country of the papal appointee to the See of Canterbury; John submitted in 1213 and the interdict was lifted.