How to leave the Catholic Church?

[Mr.De-Regulation]

I was wondering does anyone know how to leave the Catholic church?

I have googled this and could only find people asking in other forums. No one seems to know.

All I can find is that you can be ex-communicated by setting my own Church. Which I am tempted to do.

[ctr]

Here you go

[cactusflower]

Just leave. The fact that the Catholic Church might misrepresent the membership figures should not draw you into in any way seeking their permission or acknowledgement of your status. The chances are they'll misrepresent the figures even if you do write to them.

Its your own decision you are free to make.

[AMCW177]

Wasn't there a story some years back about some lad in Dublin who wrote letters etc. to the Archbishop "resigning" from the Church, and the Church basically said "Well you can say what you like but once in ye can't get out as far as we're concerned?"

Even excommunication doesn't actually remove you from the Church permanently. It's the religious equivalent of having to sleep on the sofa for a few nights after annoying herself.

[darkknight]

If someone wishes to leave, simply abstaining from attendance at Mass, etc., may not provide sufficient emotional satisfaction.

Completing the document linked above is a useful step:




There is also a 'formal declaration of defection' available online. This can be sent to the parish in which one was baptised, requesting your removal from the parish's register of baptisms. With your removal from the register, you are no longer entitled to other sacraments requiring baptism (Communion, Marriage, Last Rites, etc.). This formal step may be more satisfactory for those wishing to leave the Church:


[COLOR="Navy"]ACTUS FORMALIS DEFECTIONIS AB ECCLESIA CATHOLICA

(Cfr. Can. 1086 §1, 1117 & 1124)

To the Parish priest of the parish of: .................................................. ...............................................

Address ………………………………………………................................ ..... .................................... date............................

SUBJECT: Request for formal defection from the Catholic Church

I, the undersigned .................................................. ...................................... born on the date ......................... and baptised in the parish of .................................................. ... formally declare that I make an unequivocal personal, conscious and free decision to leave the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church.

My baptism, made against my will, should be considered null and void.

I ask that this decision be noted in writing in the baptismal registry as a “defectio ab Ecclesia catholica actu formali” as per cfr.can.535, §2.

Please find enclosed photocopy of photo identification document.

Yours truly,

………………………………………………………………

Signature Date [/COLOR]





Note: confirmation that the above method is valid is available at the Vatican's own website:

ACTUS FORMALIS DEFECTIONIS AB ECCLESIA CATHOLICA

[Fr. Fahey]

Anyone considering resigning from the Church should also reconsider their membership and support for FF, FG and Labour who were part of Governments that handed over children to be abused by the creatures who ran the institutions. In Ireland the abusers were often Catholic clergy, in Britain they were secular 'care workers', in eastern Europe they were often Communist party members. Child abuse was endemic in such institutions across the world up to the 1980s, and no doubt still takes place. It was not a peculiar Irish or Catholic phenomenon and indeed this country is one of the few to have had such an open public bringing to account of the institutions and some of the individuals who were guilty of such appalling practises. How many people were convicted in Wales in relation to the Gwnynd abuses that took place over many decades? There were similar cover ups there and the point was made that in Britain, along with Cleveland House, that it was one of the few institutions subject to such an inquiry.

[cashinhand]

You're asking the right question, no doubt about it.

Would Jesus remain a member of the Catholic Church after the latest child abuse report?

I think not.

I left the church when I was seventeen mainly because of the hocus pocus.

This hocus pocus has served, I now understand, to be an incense-smokescreen to cover avarice, sexual abuse, hypocrisy and lust for limelight and power.

The Church should call a general meeting and put all its assets in public trust to provide land for the homeless, food and clothing for the poor, and to serve the needs of those who they abused.

I always mark "no religion" on census and other forms. I tell people I am not a member if they ask, or if it is relevant.

I have great respect for some people who happen to be clergy, but they too should consider publicly resigning from this criminal insititution. I am sure the good ones among them will find alms from the public for their good works: they would be left without food and shelter in the short term, but their bravery would attract public support.

In land and assets, the Catholic Church is probably the richest organisation in the world: it is not some kind of spiritual beacon; in fact, I am afraid it has degenerated into its opposite.

Many will find this all hard to take, but the "truth shall set you free".

[blacbloc]

This issue should be a deal breaker for lots of people. As should celibacy for priests and nuns and the ban on women priests.

Time to get back to real Christianity. Jesus was a subversive who liked to party and hung out with prostitutes and all the 'sinners' of society. That's where he preached his message of love and forgiveness. The institution of the church is embalmed in wealth and power - now an icon of everything it is supposed not to be. There either needs to be a revolution within the church itself or followers of the true message of Jesus should set up a truly catholic church that is true to its own beliefs.

[cactusflower]

Wasn't there a story some years back about some lad in Dublin who wrote letters etc. to the Archbishop "resigning" from the Church, and the Church basically said "Well you can say what you like but once in ye can't get out as far as we're concerned?"

Even excommunication doesn't actually remove you from the Church permanently. It's the religious equivalent of having to sleep on the sofa for a few nights after annoying herself.

It doesn't matter what the Church says or thinks. The whole thing is based on the big lie that there is such a thing as their God.

[Fr. Fahey]

Well cactus, you don't actually know if there is or is not a god!

Perhaps it is an illusion but there are also millions of people who persist in other illusions like socialism, and in the face of the evidence of the many millions of murders committed in the name of that particular brand of snake oil. Who would you imagine murdered and raped more children Cactus, the Christian Brothers or the NKVD?