The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith upheld the automatic excommunication of a Louisiana deacon who left the Church after his son was abused by a priest.
Deacon Scott Peyton of Lafayette, Louisiana, became an Anglican after his son was sexually abused by a priest of the same diocese; the priest pled guilty to the abuse and is now in prison. The deacon incurred the excommunication for the canonical crime of schism.
Canon 1364 of the Code of Canon Law states that schismatics incur an automatic excommunication; canon 751 defines schism as “refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.”