as an accomplice to abortion per Canon 1329. Prescinding from my long-standing misgivings about the operation of automatic censures in canon law, I argued that nothing in the reports available to the public suggested that Sr. Margaret had not met the requirements for excommunication in her case. As to whether Bp. Olmsted's early public statements about Sr. Margaret's canonical status sufficed for a formal declaration or imposition of excommunication, my sense was that we had too little information to decide either way; in any event, the bishops later confirmed the status of Sr. Margaret as excommunicated, a development that raised canonical issues about Sr. Margaret's future in her religious community. There the matter rested for a year or more. Last week, however, per the Catholic News Service , St. Joseph's Hospital stated that Sr. Margaret has " met the requirements for reinstatement with the church and she is no longer excommunicated. She continues to be a member in good standing with the Sisters of Mercy and is a valued member of the St. Joseph's executive team. " This seems like good news, of course. The whole point of excommunication is to bring offenders to repent of their action. But the generation of the announcement itself seems odd to me. The announcement comes from neither the Diocese of Phoenix (pace 1983 CIC 1355-1357 ) nor from Sr. Margaret's religious superiors (pace 1983 CIC 573, 654, 696), but rather from St. Joseph's Hospital, that is, it seems, from her employer. Now, whatever