No longer Catholic?

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Hi guys, I’m new to this forum but I just need to ask a serious question about someone I know who’s now atheist. We are not really friends but acquaintances.

So this person was brought up and baptized Protestant. When she got older she was so convinced that the Catholic Church has the fullness of Truth so she took RCIA classes and about a year later she finally converted to the Catholic Faith and took Communion.

Now, long story short, about 6 months later she was struggling with the Faith and unfortunately left the Church and 2 months later became an atheist and left all religion behind. She despised it for years. She pretty much committed apostasy!

How do I know this? She told me all about her background.

So I am curious myself. Even though she was baptized in a Protestant church and converted to Catholicism, received the Seal of Faith on her forehead at her Confirmation and then she committed apostasy months later, is she technically still Catholic??? Or not? I’m a new convert so I’m not sure either lol.

I can give you guys more info if you need but I just wanted to give the basics.

Thank you in advance for your responses!
 
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According to the Catholic Church they remain Catholic after baptism, but by every single other measure by which we determine whether someone is a member of a group or not she isn’t.
 
Firstly, be careful never to condemn others. Jesus didn’t go around condemning people, even when it was obvious they had committed a wrong doing (for example: the adulterous woman), so why should we?

Secondly, we will never know when another person is in a state of mortal sin (apostasy in this case). Only they and their confessor (priest) will know.

To answer your actual question, yes, she is still Catholic. The mark of baptism can never be removed, it is an indelible mark (same goes for Holy Orders (priestly ordination)). That is not to say however that she is outside of communion with the Church and must receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation in which case the priest can undo the automatic excommunication (Latae sententiae).

ADDITION: Please see CCC 2089 and 2140 for more information/background as to my answer.

EDIT #2: Welcome to the community @Chemical!
 
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Theologically and ecclesiologically she’s still Catholic and if she were to return she would just need to go to Confession to be reconciled with the Faith.
 
So you’re saying she’s still Catholic according to the CC but to other people she’s not?
 
I’m not trying to condemn her at all.

I remember she did tell me she was interested in the Jewish faith after she left the Church. She talked to a Rabbi about conversion and long story short, she almost did convert to the Jewish faith but she didn’t. She told me she was so convinced God didn’t exist she became atheist. She said she didnt want to become an atheist but she was soooooo convinced there was no God.

That’s neat she’s still Catholic but had she converted to Judaism would that have made her a Catholic Jew?
 
She told me she’ll never be a Christian again, she is so convinced Christianity is a “made up” religion (as a matter of fact she thinks ALL religions are made up) she will not return. Also the way she talks about her being an atheist and how she hates religion, I can tell she probably will not return.

She did say she was a Satanist during a period of time but even that was “stupid” so she went back to being atheist. She has gone through a lot lol 😂
 
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Chemical said:
So you’re saying she’s still Catholic according to the CC but to other people she’s not?
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Exactly. For nearly everybody what religion they are is what they believe at that time. If a Baptist converts to Presbyterianism then to Mormonism neither the Baptist church nor the Presbyterian church will claim that person is still a member of their church.

Imagine if your friend converted from Catholicism to Methodism instead of atheism. The Methodists would say she is a member, but so would the Catholics. Obviously she can’t be a member of both churches, so which is it. She clearly wouldn’t feel bound by the rules of the CC but would be bound by the rules of the Methodists – so long as she was a willing member.

With non-religious groups where one can choose to join we wouldn’t take seriously claims of a group that a person who left was still a member. If I left the Green Party and joined the Libertarian Party the Green Party would not reasonably be able to still claim me as a member.
 
She will always be a Catholic. We believe no other baptism or conversion to another sect “erases” your baptism from the Church. You’re forever a Catholic after baptism. Now, whether or not she’s a practicing Catholic is different. If being in a sect, more than likely she will not be in communion with the Church but this does not mean she is stripped of being a Catholic. Catholic Churches are open to literally everyone. That is not the case with sects. That is why a person cannot go back to a sect they have left once they covert to another.
The Church is confident enough that it’s children will return one day, just like the Prodigal Son, being the one true Church established by Jesus.
 
A lot is missing. What personal tragedy or suspected mental/psychological difficulties have occurred? Death? Divorce? Victim of crime? Was she stable at the time of her conversion? Was she looking to receive only? To get a quick solution to a personal problem? She seems spiritually unhinged, based on what we know - which is not much.

What can you do? What can we, or anybody do? Pray. And those in her life can simply demonstrate the beauty, love and joy of the faith. She may react with anger - but anger is a symptom of resistance and rebellion. That takes strength. But, many things, including time, age and fatigue, bring weakness.

And when we are weak, God’s strength is both shown and known.
 
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Chemical said:
I can tell she probably will not return.
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She might! I was baptized in 2010 as a Protestant. I was 21. Until the age of 31 I spent years flipping between being a devout Christian and a vitriolic atheist. As I got older my zeal weakened overall and then I started to realize my life was empty. I had everything…and my life was empty. I eventually found Catholicism and have remained ever since.

I do have days and weeks when my zeal dies, but even then my mind can’t seem to shake the conviction of Christ.

I would say pray for her. God truly brings strong faith in the craziest ways. I guess I’m just one of those people who had to go deep the other way before I came to the realization that God is really what fulfills us. Drugs, sex, money, art, pride…it all loses its flavor and leaves a horrible trail.
 
According to the Catholic Church she is still a Catholic and if she wants to come back the door is open and we are ready to take her back in with open arms.
 
  1. She’s a Catholic. Once you are baptized Catholic, you are always a Catholic. No going back for a re-do. At this point we would call her a “fallen-away Catholic” or a “lapsed Catholic”.
  2. She might return at any time before death, including at the very last moment before death.
 
The natural law imprinted on our hearts makes us yearn for God.

I feel rather sorry for folks who go to/from Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism and atheism like they’re changing jobs every few months - they’re clearly searching for something they can’t find (or they have “it” and don’t know it).

Pray for the friend to figure it out. Sad.
 
Trust me, I understand the Church’s position on the matter. I’m just noting some of the awkwardness that follows from such a position. There was a period of several years where people who left the Church could formally renounce their membership in it, while still stating that the Church considered the person a Catholic due to baptism. The Church then released Omnium in mentem which stopped that practice.

If the OP’s friend had instead gone to the Baptist church instead of atheism how would you describe her religion? You can’t just say “Catholic” since that ignores the very real and faithful practice she’d be doing as a Baptist. Would you perhaps say “Catholic by baptism/Baptist by choice”?
 
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