Are damned Catholics still considered Catholics?

[savedbychrist]

The topic sounds paradoxical, since if they are not considered Catholics, they would be damned souls who used to be Catholics instead of damned Catholics.

So the real question is: Are damned souls who were Catholics when they were alive, still Catholics despite being damned?

Since we do not believe in OSAS, Catholics could indeed lose salvation in case of mortal sin left unforgiven. Hell is certainly a perpectual excommunication, but baptism leaves a perpectual mark on a soul as well. Therefore, excommunicated Catholics are still Catholics, just excommunicated. Is it the same for damned souls, that they remain Catholics?

(Though souls in hell would probably not care about whether they are still Catholic…)

 

[sudy]

No person, Catholic or otherwise, is damned while they’re still alive. They have the chance of conversion until death. So yes, Catholic person is still Catholic.

Oops, I misunderstood what you’d written. I can’t imagine that anyone who was Catholic while alive but damned and in hell, could remain Catholic… ‘even what they have will be taken away’ …their baptism gives them the Holy Spirit.

 

[LittleFlower378]

A soul in the state of mortal sin that was baptized Catholic remains Catholic while he is alive. But not sure when one dies and goes to hell. That person will have great anguish and eternal suffering in that he had the best means to get to heaven by being a Catholic but chose the creature over the creator.

 

[Neithan]

If they are finally and forever excommunicated, I don’t think we can reasonably say they are a part of the church any longer or Catholic. I imagine that their baptism may cause greater suffering because it would be an indelible reminder of how close they really were to Whom they ultimately rejected. A final place of “natural happiness” even if that existed like Dante dreamed it, would be impossible for them because they were no longer entirely natural creatures.

 

[fhansen]

A Catholic is a child of God. If we’ve lost that status spiritually through mortal sin then we’re no longer in communion with Him, and Catholic in name only, until and unless we have a change of heart and repent/turn back to Him.

 

[Aulef]

It is possible for a person to believe the Faith in its integrity and yet die in state of mortal sin. It is this second condition which leads people to eternal damnation.