Godparent has resigned from Catholic Church

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ProVobis said:
Maybe it’s not an official name but supposedly “ex-Catholics” form the largest denomination in the U.S. (according to my pastor anyway)
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How can ex-Catholics be a denomination? Usually when people leave the Church they either stop attending church altogether or join one of the thousands of protestant denominations. Do you mean your pastor of your catholic parish told you this? Was he being serious?

This thread brings up another question for me…since someone upthread said 'once a Catholic, always a Catholic", what happens in cases of excommunication? If someone is excommunicated are they still Catholic?
 
creole54 said:
This thread brings up another question for me…since someone upthread said 'once a Catholic, always a Catholic", what happens in cases of excommunication? If someone is excommunicated are they still Catholic?
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Excommunication is an ecclesiastical censure. If I’m not mistaken, they are still Catholics but just not in communion with the Pope for the time being. Baptism leaves an indelible mark on the soul.
 
thistle said:
She cannot “resign”. Once a Catholic always a Catholic. There are only two types of Catholic. Those in a state of mortal sin and those in a state of grace. There is no such thing as an ex-Catholic or former Catholic. She is a Catholic for life whether she likes it or not.

As for your godparent question as others said you don’t have to do anything. Sponsors cannot be changed.
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From your point of view, she may not be able to resign from the Catholic church, but from her point of view she already has. The Church may not have a formal classification for her, simply because they might not like to admit what’s happening to the church, but she’s gone. Out the door, kaput. She can do that. People do. Insisting on some sort of formal belonging is kind of pointless, but you can do it if it makes you feel better, which apparently it does.
 
iloveangels said:
From your point of view, she may not be able to resign from the Catholic church,** but from her point of view she already has**. The Church may not have a formal classification for her, simply because they might not like to admit what’s happening to the church, but she’s gone. Out the door, kaput. She can do that. People do. Insisting on some sort of formal belonging is kind of pointless, but you can do it if it makes you feel better, which apparently it does.
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That is irrelevant. Such a person is simply a Catholic in a state of mortal sin and can be reconciled today by going to Confession.
 
iloveangels said:
10.1% of all Americans are ex-Catholics.

Here’s a very good statistical report on the subject.

pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Religious_Affiliation/faithinflux_3.pdf
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It is more accurate to say that IF “former-Catholics” were a denomination they would be the THIRD largest after Catholic and Baptist. The fact that ex-Catholic is even a choice on a survey goes to show that we are still considered the gold standard of Christianity. Surveys don’t have “ex-Baptist” or “Ex-episcopalian” as choices.

What if they had “ex-pagan” or “ex agnostic” as choices?
 
creole54 said:
How can ex-Catholics be a denomination? Usually when people leave the Church they either stop attending church altogether or join one of the thousands of protestant denominations. Do you mean your pastor of your catholic parish told you this? Was he being serious?

This thread brings up another question for me…since someone upthread said 'once a Catholic, always a Catholic", what happens in cases of excommunication? If someone is excommunicated are they still Catholic?
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I suppose he has his own set of criteria. There is nothing official AFAIK what constitutes an “ex-Catholic.”

This is the same priest who came to the realization that of those who receive First Communion these days (at least in his parish), most will likely never step into a church again, unless for a wedding or Easter or something.
 
thistle said:
That is irrelevant. Such a person is simply a Catholic in a state of mortal sin and can be reconciled today by going to Confession.
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From your point of view.

I’m not talking about right and wrong here. Rather, I’m talking about the practicalities of what this person has decided to do . For all intents and purposes they are gone.
 
MisterCorduroy said:
It is more accurate to say that IF “former-Catholics” were a denomination they would be the THIRD largest after Catholic and Baptist. The fact that ex-Catholic is even a choice on a survey goes to show that we are still considered the gold standard of Christianity. Surveys don’t have “ex-Baptist” or “Ex-episcopalian” as choices.

What if they had “ex-pagan” or “ex agnostic” as choices?
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Ex-pagan or ex-agnostic aren’t large at all.

Ex-Catholics are currently 10.1% of the population of the United States. Currently at least 4 times as many people leave in a year as come into the church.

We can sit here all night arguing about words, but those are the statistics.
 
iloveangels said:
Ex-pagan or ex-agnostic aren’t large at all.

Ex-Catholics are currently 10.1% of the population of the United States. Currently at least 4 times as many people leave in a year as come into the church.

We can sit here all night arguing about words, but those are the statistics.
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I will repeat it.
There are NO ex-Catholics. There are only Catholics in a state of grace and Catholics in a state of mortal sin.
 
thistle said:
I will repeat it.
There are NO ex-Catholics. There are only Catholics in a state of grace and Catholics in a state of mortal sin.
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Tell that to a few ex-Catholics and see if they believe it. I assure you they won’t and that they’re gone. People can and do simply quit being Catholics. They make a denouncement and go off to do something else, never to return. Because the Catholic church here in the US is so very much like the prevailing culture in the United States, they don’t even have to change very much to leave. In fact many of them never had much of a commitment, personal or otherwise, to the Church in the first place. Happens all the time.

The Philippines is very different culturally, and perhaps it looks different there? I’m not in the Philippines. Here in the US, we’re experiencing more or less a collapse. Are you having the same thing there in the Philippines?
 
iloveangels said:
Tell that to a few ex-Catholics and see if they believe it. I assure you they won’t and that they’re gone. People can and do simply quit being Catholics. They make a denouncement and go off to do something else, never to return. Because the Catholic church here in the US is so very much like the prevailing culture in the United States, they don’t even have to change very much to leave. In fact many of them never had much of a commitment, personal or otherwise, to the Church in the first place. Happens all the time.

The Philippines is very different culturally, and perhaps it looks different there? I’m not in the Philippines. Here in the US, we’re experiencing more or less a collapse. Are you having the same thing there in the Philippines?
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You cannot quit being a Catholic. Walking away from the Church makes you a Catholic in a state of mortal sin. It does not make you an ex-Catholic.
 
That’s a definition, from a certain point of view.

Are you saying that anyone who’s ever been baptized with a baptism acceptable to the Church is Catholic?

Are you aware that most converts don’t have to be re-baptized because their baptisms are considered as valid by the Church as those done to cradle Catholics?

I’m thinking that you don’t have as many protestant sects in the Philippines as we do here.

Here’s it’s not particularly uncommon to be baptized as a child as an Episcopalian or something like that, and then become Catholic for a bit using the same baptism done years ago. And then quit that, and then join one of the non-denominational evangelical churches that are all over in the US.

I mean, yes, you can define all you want, but it’s merely an academic matter–a definition on paper–if you want to know the truth. For all intents and purposes, they’re gone once they’ve left. No more contributions, no more participation and no more identification with the Church. They’re gone and their children and relatives with them.
 
iloveangels said:
That’s a definition, from a certain point of view.

Are you saying that anyone who’s ever been baptized with a baptism acceptable to the Church is Catholic?

Are you aware that most converts don’t have to be re-baptized because their baptisms are considered as valid by the Church as those done to cradle Catholics?

I’m thinking that you don’t have as many protestant sects in the Philippines as we do here.

Here’s it’s not particularly uncommon to be baptized as a child as an Episcopalian or something like that, and then become Catholic for a bit using the same baptism done years ago. And then quit that, and then join one of the non-denominational evangelical churches that are all over in the US.

I mean, yes, you can define all you want, but it’s merely an academic matter–a definition on paper–if you want to know the truth. For all intents and purposes, they’re gone once they’ve left. No more contributions, no more participation and no more identification with the Church. They’re gone and their children and relatives with them.
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Anyone who has been sacramentally baptised a Catholic or in my case (as a validly baptised Methodist before converting) formally accepted into the Catholic Church are Catholics forever.
Even if someone walks away from the Church they officially remain a Catholic as far as the Church (and God who gave authority to the Church) is concerned. Such a person turning their back on the Church simply means they are a Catholic in a state of mortal sin. There is no such thing as an ex-Catholic. It would mean if such a person dies unrepentant they go to Hell.
 
My godparents joined are protestants now, too. I’m not aware of a procedure. you just bounce off of other Catholics instead. 🤷
 
thistle said:
Anyone who has been sacramentally baptised a Catholic or in my case (as a validly baptised Methodist before converting) formally accepted into the Catholic Church are Catholics forever.
Even if someone walks away from the Church they officially remain a Catholic as far as the Church (and God who gave authority to the Church) is concerned. Such a person turning their back on the Church simply means they are a Catholic in a state of mortal sin. There is no such thing as an ex-Catholic. It would mean if such a person dies unrepentant they go to Hell.
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Okay, so they go to hell, according to Catholics. But they still don’t come back in this life as a practical matter. They’re gone.

And in a very real way, if they’re gone in this life, and then they go to hell according to Catholics, they’re doubly finally gone. That’s about as definitively gone as any person could ever get.
 
iloveangels said:
Okay,** so they go to hell, according to Catholics.** But they still don’t come back in this life as a practical matter. They’re gone.

And in a very real way, if they’re gone in this life, and then they go to hell according to Catholics, they’re doubly finally gone. That’s about as definitively gone as any person could ever get.
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What do you mean by that? That is the Church teaching fully backed by Christ.
You make it sound as if its not really true.

Also in this life they can simply come home by going to Confession.
 
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