ADMONITION (Latin: Monitio). - A word used in canon law to designate the more or less solemn act by which the ecclesiastical superior calls someone back to the observance of his duties.
Leaving aside the so-called paternal admonition (which amounts, in substance, to a mere exhortation, devoid of strictly juridical character) and considering the canonical monitio properly so called, we note that it occurs in various circumstances, with different purposes and effects.
1. In the system of censures or medicinal penalties (v. CENSURA), the monitio represents an indispensable condition for the occurrence of contumacy (v.) and, therefore, for the application of the penalty (CIC, can. 2233, § 2). It consists in the formal intimation to obey the command of the law or of the superior and in the simultaneous threat of censure in the event of failure to obey. Authors distinguish the monitio ab homine from the monitio a iure. The first occurs when, the censure not being expressly provided for by the law or by the penal precept, or being provided for only as a penalty ferendae sententiae, the superior or the judge threatens its application against the guilty party, should he not desist from his unlawful conduct or not repair the consequences of the crime committed. Unlike the law of the decretals, which required as a rule three admonitions to be carried out at intervals of some days (cf. c. 9, de sententia excommunicationis, suspensionis et interdicti, V, 11, in VI), the current CIC prescribes only one, leaving it to the prudent discretion of the judge or of the superior to establish, according to the circumstances, a reasonable term «ad resipiscendum».
The monitio a iure occurs whenever a censure latae sententiae is explicitly threatened by the law or by the penal precept. In this case, the simple transgression of the law or of the precept suffices to bring the guilty party under the censure, because, as it is usually said, «lex interpellat pro homine».
2. The admonition is sometimes required also in order for a vindictive penalty to be imposed.
Thus, for example, with regard to apostates, heretics and schismatics, the Code provides that they be deprived of the benefice, of the office, and of the pension which they may happen to enjoy, and that they be furthermore subject to the declaration of infamy, only if, duly admonished, they have not given signs of repentance; if moreover the guilty party is a cleric, before inflicting on him the penalty of deposition, a twofold monitio must be carried out (can. 2314, § 1, n. 2). Analogous provisions are found in cann. 2315 (suspicion of heresy), 2340 (perseverance of the cleric in the censure of suspension), 2379 (violation of the obligation to wear the ecclesiastical habit), 2394, n. 2 (arbitrary occupation of office), etc.
3. The monitio canonica constitutes furthermore a formality necessary for the execution of those disciplinary proceedings which, regulated in the past by the decree Maxima cura of the S. Congr. concistoriale dated 20 Aug. 1910, find their arrangement today in the third part of book IV of the Code, under the title De modo procedendi in nonnullis expedendis negotiis vel sanctionibus poenalibus applicandis. It is particularly prescribed as the first act of procedure when it is a question of taking measures against the beneficiary who does not comply with the obligation of residence (can. 2158), against the cleric suspected of immoral conduct (can. 2176) and against the parish priest negligent in the fulfillment of his office (can. 2182).
In the trial for the dismissal of religious (can. 649 ff.) two distinct admonitions are prescribed under penalty of inadmissibility, to be carried out by the immediate major superior or by a delegate of his. Between the first and the second, when the religious is charged with the commission of a continued or permanent crime, an interval of at least three days must intervene; and after the second, in every case at least six days must be allowed to pass before the instruction of the process may proceed.
4. The admonition can finally assume the character of a penal remedy (v.), that is, of a measure directed at preventing rather than at repressing the crime. As such, it is inflicted by the ordinary or by a delegate of his against one who is in proximate occasion of offending or who can with good reason be suspected of being the author of a crime (can. 2307). If within a suitable term the person admonished does not show that he accepts the superior's call or does not in some way remove the suspicion that has fallen upon him, the admonition can be repeated (can. 2309, § 6); and it can be followed by a formal precept, furnished with a sanction in the event of non-compliance (can. 2310).
5. The intimation of the monitio is carried out as a rule: a) either verbally, before the chancellor or another official of the curia, or in the presence of two witnesses; b) or in writing, by means of a registered letter with return receipt (can. 2143, § 1; can. 2308, § 2). In both cases, an authentic document must be preserved in the acts, establishing that the admonition took place (can. 2143, § 2). When it is used as a penal remedy, the monitio can also be carried out in secret form (can. 2309, § 1), provided that a trace of it remains in the secret archive of the curia (can. 2309, § 5).
6. In Italian law, the admonition is a police measure (arts. 164-176 of the Testo Unico delle leggi di P.S., 18 June 1931), which affects idlers, vagabonds, socially dangerous persons and those defamed for crimes, and which limits more or less notably, according to the circumstances, the freedom of the person subject to it.
Bibliography6 works
Ferruccio Liuzzi