The Definition of an Anathema in the Catholic Church

The penalty of anathema no longer exists in the Catholic Church. It was abolished with the release of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, though regular ex-communications, ones without the ceremony, do still exist. If you had committed an ecclesiastical crime that had an anathema as a penalty, then after repeated warnings, the bishop would bring you down to the cathedral and pronounce the anathema on you. The term has a variety of meanings and they've changed over time.