What Happens if a Catholic Chooses to Refuse to Believe

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Being a baptized Catholic is becoming part of Christ’s Body and God’s children and heirs. You can’t end that, because wherever you go, you still are part of the family. You are always God’s son or daughter, and if you leave, you are His prodigal son or daughter.

You can die and go to Hell as a cut-off branch. But you can’t undo Baptism during life on earth. A bad bad Catholic is still a Catholic.

A Catholic who was baptized as a baby and knows nothing about it has a permanently Catholic soul. What God does cannot be undone.

(Which is not to say that apostasy on purpose is not serious, or that being confused and ignorant enough to try to leave because you thought it was right is not serious, and sad. But you can’t undo being grafted into God; only God can cut us off, and He has promised to let all the branches grow together, giving everyone a full chance to bear fruit.)
 
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Soubirous1 said:
i understand and agree the Church is always there for someone to return. that doesn’t mean they are still Catholic while they are away. if a person was. Democrat for 20 years and then began to vote Republican, are they still Democrat because they may return?
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However, baptism is indelibly imprinted on the soul and can never be removed, even by mortal sin so a sacramentally baptised Catholic is a Catholic forever even if they walk away from the Church.
There are only two types of Catholic - those in a state of grace and those in a state of mortal sin.
 
what about people that covert from Lutheran? They aren’t baptized Catholic. are they forever Catholic?
 
In a sense the only real Catholics are the ones who will end up in heaven. But that is a judgment that only God himself can make. We are just simply not qualified to measure the true Catholic-ness (or heaven-worthiness) of anyone.
 
never said any different. I don’t like people saying they are Catholic when they are for abortion. could lead people astray. monkey see, monkey do
 
Soubirous1 said:
what about people that covert from Lutheran? They aren’t baptized Catholic. are they forever Catholic?
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If they officially enter the Catholic Church then yes. Lutheran baptism is accepted by the Catholic Church.

I was Methodist and in 1992 officially became a Catholic so I remain a Catholic forever no matter what I do.
 
Soubirous1 said:
i understand and agree the Church is always there for someone to return. that doesn’t mean they are still Catholic while they are away. if a person was. Democrat for 20 years and then began to vote Republican, are they still Democrat because they may return?
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That analogy doesn’t work. Joining a political party doesn’t make an indelible mark on your soul. You can come and go as you please.
 
Soubirous1 said:
so you’re saying God holds you hostage?
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As an aside, do you see any irony in arguing that people who disagree with Church teaching aren’t catholic, while you yourself are disagreeing with the church on the question of who is and isn’t catholic?
 
Soubirous1 said:
i understand and agree the Church is always there for someone to return. that doesn’t mean they are still Catholic while they are away. if a person was. Democrat for 20 years and then began to vote Republican, are they still Democrat because they may return?
Click to expand...
Being Catholic is more than just being part of a membership roll. This is where the political party analogy falls apart. You are a Catholic because you were received into the Church, so it changes who you fundamentally are; it is an ontological reality, not just your name on a list.

It is impossible to un-Catholic yourself; Pope Benedict XVI removed all means by which one can formally defect from the Church, so it is once Catholic, always Catholic. The difference is whether you can be a Catholic in good standing or not.

And this is a good thing, because only Catholics can receive the Sacraments. This means when one needs to return to the Church, all he has to do is approach Confession, which is available only to Catholics. Even fallen-away Catholics remain Catholic, and so are entitled to receive this Sacrament. By making it impossible to formally defect, the Church retains its jurisdiction over its fallen-away members, thereby enabling them to be absolved and reconciled.
 
roger that. might want to ignore me for a bit. i quit smoking again 3 weeks ago. mentally unstable now.
 
No. Oh, my sympathy, I’ve never smoked but family members do and have tried umpteen times to quit and believe me, by 3 weeks they are climbing the WALLS. However, my brother did manage to kick the habit for good—and it’s been 35 years now since his last cigarette—so it can be done!!
 
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