Does the phrase "in good standing" have a definition in Catholicism? I'm helping draft a some statutes for a Catholic Lay Organization and we want to come up with a fairly exclusive group for our leadership and thought. The phrase, &quot;Catholic in good standing&quot; sounded like a good way of putting it. Is there a Canonical definition of what a Catholic in Good Standing is?
It's not a term used in canon law.
Canonist Charles Augustine, O.S.B., uses the the phrase &quot;good standing&quot; in his commentary on canon law, but it doesn't appear anywhere in the code of canon law itself.
The OED defines &quot;to be in good standing with&quot; as &quot;to stand well with, be in favour with&quot;. Thus, a Catholic in good standing is one who is not excommunicated and practices the faith.