'Audivimus', 'Achatius' and Causa XXIV: Heretics Excommunicating Catholics

Jun 30, 2026
The full text of the Causa in which the important canons of Gratian's Decretum appear – explaining why heretics have no power, and cannot excommunicate Catholics.
Editor’s Notes
This article reproduces the entirety of Causa XXIV, Quest. I, along with Gratian’s commentaries.
In an accompanying article, I have explained the history, context and interpretation of the so-called canon Audivimus, and its relevance to any excommunications which may be levelled by Leo XIV against the SSPX and other traditionalists.
Here is the text itself.
Causa XXIV, Quest. I
Decretum Gratiani
C. I–XLII
Verified against Aemilius Friedberg’s Corpus Iuris Canonici, Pars Prior (Decretum Magistri Gratiani), Akademische Druck, U. Verlagsanstalt, Graz, 1959, pp. 965–983.
A certain bishop, having lapsed into heresy, deprived some of his priests of their office and marked them with a sentence of excommunication. After his death he is accused of heresy and condemned, together with his followers and his …More