I was asked an interesting question today. Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer. Therefore, I’m here to see if I can find out the answer.
A colleague of mine has a Latin Catholic father and a Church of England mother. He was baptised and confirmed in the Church of England. He wants to know if canonically he is a Latin Catholic because is deceased father was a Latin Catholic.
No. He is not a Catholic.
He was baptized into the Church of England. To become a Catholic he would make a profession of faith and receive the remaining sacraments of initiation (confirmation and eucharist). This is typically preceeded by formation and rites of RCIA.
Can. 11 Merely ecclesiastical laws bind those who have been baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it, possess the efficient use of reason, and, unless the law expressly provides otherwise, have completed seven years of age.
Can. 96 By baptism one is incorporated into the Church of Christ and is constituted a person in it with the duties and rights which are proper to Christians in keeping with their condition, insofar as they are in ecclesiastical communion and unless a legitimately issued sanction stands in the way.
Perhaps your friend is confused by the following canons, which he may have heard about and misunderstood:
Can. 111 §1. Through the reception of baptism, the child of parents who belong to the Latin Church is enrolled in it, or, if one or the other does not belong to it, both parents have chosen by mutual agreement to have the offspring baptized in the Latin Church. If there is no mutual agreement, however, the child is enrolled in the ritual Church to which the father belongs.
§2. Anyone to be baptized who has completed the fourteenth year of age can freely choose to be baptized in the Latin Church or in another ritual Church sui iuris; in that case, the person belongs to the Church which he or she has chosen.
Can. 112 §1. After the reception of baptism, the following are enrolled in another ritual Church sui iuris:
1/ a person who has obtained permission from the Apostolic See;
2/ a spouse who, at the time of or during marriage, has declared that he or she is transferring to the ritual Church sui iuris of the other spouse; when the marriage has ended, however, the person can freely return to the Latin Church;
3/ before the completion of the fourteenth year of age, the children of those mentioned in nn. 1 and 2 as well as, in a mixed marriage, the children of the Catholic party who has legitimately transferred to another ritual Church; on completion of their fourteenth year, however, they can return to the Latin Church.
§2. The practice, however prolonged, of receiving the sacraments according to the rite of another ritual Church sui iuris does not entail enrollment in that Church.
This is referring to a person who is baptized in one of the Rites of the Catholic Church, not a non-Catholic ecclesial community. It would pertain to parents who belong to separate Rites within the Catholic Church.
It does not apply in this situation since they baptized the child in the non-Catholic ecclesial community.
