This change will actually make it easier for “fallen away” Catholics to return to the church and get a “free do-over” in effect abandoning their old marriage as though it never existed.
This is not accurate. A Catholic in an invalid marriage can convalidate that marriage at any time. A Catholic who finds themselves invalidly married does not have to “abandon” their spouse, nor should they. They should convalidate the marriage.
Well, of course ex-Catholics aren’t going to lose any sleep over that, so they’ll get married in a civil ceremony or some other church. Whatever percent decide to come back to the RCC someday, of course can seek to have their marriage validated or get dispensation or whatever. On the other hand, if they divorced and now want to marry a good Catholic spouse, no problem. They get a free divorce because their first marriage was “invalid.”
Yes, their marriage was invalid. The number of people who formally defect is so tiny as to be almost non existent. I don’t know a single fallen away Catholic who has **formally **defected. So, the Church found that basically no one was doing this anyway. And, it wasn’t defined well in canon law, so it left areas of doubt.
To my mind, it’s absurd that the church would presume to exercise any authority of canon law over people who have renounced their membership entirely.
The Church isn’t a club, where you can cancel your “membership.” It’s not membership at all. It’s the family of God. Through baptism we are made children of God and are adopted into the Kingdom. If you don’t like your family, if you leave your family and never contact them again, they are still your family. You cannot cancel your blood relationship with them. Baptism creates an indelible mark on your soul. You are always a Catholic. There isn’t any way to be “not” Catholic. Just like there isn’t any way to be “not” a member of your family.
It’s also kind of creepy and cult-like. It singles out ex-Catholics as a sort of pariah class. The marriage of protestants are valid even though they and their ancestors rejected the church generations ago. Osama Bin Laden’s marriages are valid in the church’s eyes. But not the marriages of people who decided Catholicism wasn’t for them.
Um, no Osama Bin Ladens “marriages” aren’t valid. Only one of them is.
Yes, Protestants marry validly. However, all of the divine law impediments apply so not *every *Protestant marriage or that of the unbaptized is valid.
And, yes, Catholics are always Catholic. That’s not “creepy” it is simply an ontological fact. I am always going to be white even if I move to Africa and try to be black. It won’t happen. Catholicism isn’t revokable because we are permanently sealed in the covenant of Baptism.
You’re right in the fact that not many people in this country have submitted a formal declaration of defection, because so few people knew of the procedure or wanted to bother sending in a notarized letter (I did, but I’m kind of a geek). In Ireland, thousands have done so in the wake of the Ryan report. I’m curious to see whether the church will even continue to accept such letters. With this new change, defection will have absolutely no consequence in canon law.
I hope you will come back to the Church, which is always waiting for you with open arms. Christ died for you and I hope you will reconcile with His Bride.
