[Ben Mugged]

Very misleading title. Excommunication is the most serious ecclesiastical penalty levied against a member of the Roman Catholic Church. It is a seldom used punishment to discipline unrelenting defiance or other serious violations of church rules, especially by those who are accused of "spreading division and confusion among the faithful" -- meaning, in practice, that the option of excommunication is more likely to be enforced when the disobedient Catholic is a visible and presumably influential public figure (such as a politician), but only rarely in the cases of non-public figures. Excommunication is never a merely "vindictive penalty" (designed solely to punish), but is always a "medicinal penalty" intended to pressure the person into changing their behavior or statements, repent and return to full communion.

Last I knew, the Pope had not excommunicated Giuliani (or any other politician I am aware of) therefore Giuliani is still a Catholic.

[pgyanke]

...Giuliani is still a Catholic.

Read the reference in Antoninus's #28.

[xsmommy]

the excommunication is latae sententiae which means it is automatic, and hence there is no need for an official decree

[DManA]

Ok, I'll ask you, were all his marriages annulled?

therefore Giuliani is still a Catholic.