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Reproduced for your edification:
To Whom It May Concern,
I'm not sure who I should directly send this to, so I'm sending it directly to the Communications Director in the hope that they can forward it to the appropriate party.
My parents were and still are Catholic, and I was raised Catholic, at an age where I really didn't have a choice in the matter. I will be 30 years old in a week or so, and I haven't considered myself a Catholic, let alone a Christian, for over a decade. It is my understanding that if one has received the sacraments of Baptism, Communion, and Confirmation, that the Church considers one Catholic for life. At the time I underwent those ritual initiations, I was not of an age to honestly make those decisions for myself, and my Confirmation in particular was only done to please my other Catholic relatives.
My question is whether or not there is a formal procedure one needs to undergo in order to no longer be considered Catholic in the eyes of the Church. Excommunication is the only one I can think of, but I'm only familiar with it as a punitive measure, not as something one can apply for. If I can arrange to be excommunicated, or in some other way sever my official ties to the Catholic Church, I would appreciate it if someone could help me out with getting that process going.
This is not a joke, by the way. I am perfectly serious. I'm not trying to make some kind of atheistic or philosophical point, I would just like all ties that the Church recognizes me as having to the organization severed to the same degree that I consider them severed on my end. Thank you for your consideration.
-Keith Nielsen
I'm wondering what their reply will be. Having looked up excommunication and how you get it, I certainly qualify for number 1, as I'm one hell of an apostate. I suppose it's too much to hope for that they'll give me an excommunication document suitable for framing.
To Whom It May Concern,
I'm not sure who I should directly send this to, so I'm sending it directly to the Communications Director in the hope that they can forward it to the appropriate party.
My parents were and still are Catholic, and I was raised Catholic, at an age where I really didn't have a choice in the matter. I will be 30 years old in a week or so, and I haven't considered myself a Catholic, let alone a Christian, for over a decade. It is my understanding that if one has received the sacraments of Baptism, Communion, and Confirmation, that the Church considers one Catholic for life. At the time I underwent those ritual initiations, I was not of an age to honestly make those decisions for myself, and my Confirmation in particular was only done to please my other Catholic relatives.
My question is whether or not there is a formal procedure one needs to undergo in order to no longer be considered Catholic in the eyes of the Church. Excommunication is the only one I can think of, but I'm only familiar with it as a punitive measure, not as something one can apply for. If I can arrange to be excommunicated, or in some other way sever my official ties to the Catholic Church, I would appreciate it if someone could help me out with getting that process going.
This is not a joke, by the way. I am perfectly serious. I'm not trying to make some kind of atheistic or philosophical point, I would just like all ties that the Church recognizes me as having to the organization severed to the same degree that I consider them severed on my end. Thank you for your consideration.
-Keith Nielsen
I'm wondering what their reply will be. Having looked up excommunication and how you get it, I certainly qualify for number 1, as I'm one hell of an apostate. I suppose it's too much to hope for that they'll give me an excommunication document suitable for framing.
