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VIOLATION

Desecration of something holy. A church is violated by the crime of homicide, a criminal shedding of blood, impious and sordit conduct, and (in the Code of 1918) the burial of an infidel or a notorious, excommunicated person. Corpses and graves are violated by stealing from them or putting them to some evil purpose. (Etym. Latin violare, from vis, force.)

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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