Verbal penalty and offense
The sentence punishment ( Latin poena ferendae sententiae ) is one of the two basic types of church punishment in the criminal law of the Roman Catholic Church , which forms part of canon law ; the other is the offense (lat. poena latae sententiae ). The normal case is the verdict.
The difference between conviction and criminal offense lies in the fact that a penalty must be expressly imposed by a competent authority. As a rule, the diocesan bishop or a court appointed by him is responsible in the first instance ; However, there are a number of special responsibilities of other bodies, such as the Pope or the Roman Rota .
On the other hand, the offense occurs automatically when the offense is committed, without having to be expressly imposed. An example of a criminal offense is excommunication when physical violence is used against the Pope.