Research New Orleans Archbishop Joseph Rummel's excommunication of Judge Leander Perez, Jackson G. Ricau and Una Gaillot. Bishop Alejo Zavala excommunicating Crisoforo Nava Barrios. Bishop Heriberto Bodeant in Uruguay. Pope Gregory VII's excommunication of Emperor Henry IV. Pope Gregory IX's and Pope Innocent IV's excommunciation of Emperor Frederick II. Pope Clement VII's excommunication of Henry VIII. Pius V's excommunication of Queen Elizabeth I. The excommunication of all Nazi party members by the German Bishops in 1931.
It is rare but it happens.
Some bishops are now speaking out strongly. They tend to be the younger ones. The old guys are products of the post-council period, and are very liberal, and in any meaningful sense, many are closer to the Episcopal bishops. in their theology. than the bishops of the ‘50s.