Arbiters of excommunication

A former co-worker told me a friend of hers called herself the pope.  Her friend deemed this co-worker the pope's assistant, and the two of them would pretend to excommunicate people who got on their nerves.  One night, while leaving work, I turned on KWMU, and the first sound bite I heard was a woman saying, "Yes, I have been excommunicated."  I thought, "Hmmm...The pope's assistant was off from work tonight.  I wonder if that excommunication was her doing."  I'm still not sure.  I also wonder if either of them granted people a reprieve from excommunication at Christmas.  I'll probably never know.