Dictionary
A modern dictionary of Catholic terms, both common and obscure. Find accurate definitions of words and phrases.
IPSO FACTO
By the very fact. In the very nature of the thing. Ecclesiastical law applies the term to excommunications that take effect the moment a person commits some crime, e.g., the public denial of a revealed dogma; to certain rights or privileges that a person acquires on being ordained or entrusted with a duty or elected to office; to a variety of consequences that follow by the fact that some person, place, or object is consecrated or set aside for sacred use.
All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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