Question about a former Catholic who recieved all his sacraments

[justamoose89]

Just curious…I have this friend who was baptized Catholic, confirmed, received communion, has been to confession, etc. He has received all the basic sacraments. Since then, he has left the Catholic church to become a non denominational protestant. In the eyes of the Church, since he has been baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church, has he forfeited his membership? I know he doesnt consider himself Catholic anymore, and does not see the sacraments he received as anything more than mere symbols that have no spiritual weight. But there is a certain kind of anointing that comes with the sacraments that we know DOES have significance. Is his baptism/confirmation “null and void”? I know one cannot be baptized or confirmed twice. So i want to say the answer is no. But I just wanted to know what everyone else thinks.

 

[choy]

the mark that Baptism and Confirmation leaves on the soul is permanent, therefore whether he acknowledges it or not, he’s a Catholic forever albeit not in communion with the Church

 

[MarkThompson]

Choy is right. From the Church’s standpoint, the sacraments are permanent. As the Catechism explains, “1304. Like Baptism which it completes, Confirmation is given only once, for it too imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, the ‘character,’ which is the sign that Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with the seal of his Spirit by clothing him with power from on high so that he may be his witness.”