Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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APPEAL

Application for judgment from lower to a higher judicial authority in connection with ecclesiastical courts. There is no appeal from a decision by the Pope, but below him every Catholic has the right to appeal if one considers oneself wronged by a judgment in a lower tribunal. The term "appeal" also refers, especially in modern times, to taking an ecclesiastical matter to the civil courts on the ground that the Church had encroached on the rights of the state.