Count Me Out

L.Jenkins

I'm sure the site and the process of defecting from the church has been discussed here at length previously. My questions are, 'has anyone defected from the church?' and 'Would it be considered a breach of human rights to deny people the right to defect? (On grounds of religious freedom)'

I'm a little miffed at the suspension of the service some time ago. The thing is, I'm constantly reading stories of outright bigotry from the church and stupidity of it's followers. My head will exploded if I have to read anymore and know I can't denounce all ties to the church.

Essentially, is there a way around the suspension? It will be the happiest fúcking day of my life knowing I've made my own choice regarding religion.

Sindri

Yes. I once saw a man squat down right over the altar, twas very messy. We didn't have communion that day.

L.Jenkins

I'd follow suit after a good feed of guiness and an indian curry :P

Coriolanus

There's a few things you can do to get excommunicated.
Assault the pope, not really to be recommended. Aid the provision of an abortion, not sure about that one either tbh. Rape a child while in a position of authority and trust, wait, no, that isn't one of them. Desecrate the host I think as well.

Sindri

Martin Luther defected.
There was another thread about this but it's all very contentious.

Here's a link.

Somewhere in there, there is post which the OP says he got a letter from a priest with whom he had consulted and was told he had to send a letter to his parish of birth to be stricken of the records of the Church.

The Catholic Church supposedly does not recognize those who wish to leave.

EDIT

Relevant thread was deleted I think. The link is now to the relevant thread in this forum but in the previous thread the OP did post that he had received such a letter.

amacachi

Sindri wrote: »

The Catholic Church supposedly does not recognize those who wish to leave.

Yeah but here at least they'll annotate the record. If I were to die soon then sickner for my parents, I don't know of any non-Catholic graveyards close to here.

strobe

Thaedyal/Nevyn (remember her? Mad as a bag of frogs she was, but wise as a bag of toads) managed to get herself officially excommunicated by the RCC. You could try for that but it apparently takes years of very publicly minded black magic and shit.

You could go with the letter to the bishop to get your record annonnannotatted.

But to be honest, I think your best bet is to stand in the crows nest of a tall ship wearing a suit of wet copper armour during a thunderstorm and scream out "All the gods are bastards!!!"

Peregrinus

ItsThatManAgain wrote: »

I'm sure the site and the process of defecting from the church has been discussed here at length previously. My questions are, 'has anyone defected from the church?' and 'Would it be considered a breach of human rights to deny people the right to defect? (On grounds of religious freedom) . . .

Essentially, is there a way around the suspension? It will be the happiest fúcking day of my life knowing I've made my own choice regarding religion.

Be happy, so. It’s clear from your post that you have already made your choice.

The whole documentary procedure that was introduced by the church in 2006 and abandoned in 2009 was not about leaving the church, but about getting some kind of acknowledgement from the church that you had left.

I understand completely why someone might want that acknowledgement, and why they might be angry or frustrated that they can’t (at present) get it. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that this means you cannot leave the Catholic church. You can leave the church, and even the Catholic church does not pretend to itself that, if they do not formally acknowledge that you have left, you therefore haven’t left and are still a member.

If you can’t get an acknowledgement of your defection from the Catholic church, the only person who might says that that makes you still a member is you. That is not the Catholic church’s view.

Nevore wrote: »

There's a few things you can do to get excommunicated.

Slightly surprisingly, being excommunicated does not mean that (in the eyes of the church) you cease to be a Catholic, or you cease to be a member of the church.

amacachi wrote: »

If I were to die soon then sickner for my parents, I don't know of any non-Catholic graveyards close to here.

Most (all?) graveyards in Ireland are open to all comers. Not being a Catholic means you don’t get a church funeral, but I don’t think it would bar you from many cemeteries in Ireland.

magicbastarder

ItsThatManAgain wrote: »

'Would it be considered a breach of human rights to deny people the right to defect? (On grounds of religious freedom)'

this keeps coming up. no, and thrice no. you are not denied freedom of religion by once having been baptised.

robindch

strobe wrote: »

stand in the crows nest of a tall ship wearing a suit of wet copper armour during a thunderstorm and scream out "All the gods are bastards!!!"

The Color of Magic?

yeppydeppy

Having tried countmeout.ie to no avail (I even emailed them to start a petition) I learned I'm in the diocese of Cloyne and they had a website with a contact email address. I emailed them saying I no longer wished to be counted as a member of the RCC and here is the response I got:
I can now confirm that a note has been made in the baptism register stating that you no longer wish to be considered a member of the Catholic church.

Genghiz Cohen

robindch wrote: »

The Color of Magic?

Its a greenish-purple I believe...

Amtmann

A few moments ago, I sent this email to the bishop of Cashel:

To Whom It May Concern:

I was baptized and confirmed in the parish of xxx, Co. Tipperary. I am an atheist and no longer want to be a member of the Catholic church. I am notifying you that I have absolutely renounced my Catholicism and all belief in supernatural entities and associated stories.

I understand that my certificate of baptism is a historical document and cannot be destroyed. However, I would like to know what I can do to officially leave the church. I would very much appreciate a response detailing the options that are open to me, including excommunication if a more rational mode of withdrawal is unavailable.

For identification purposes, my name is xxx, and my date of birth is xx-xx-xxx. My home address is xxx.

I look forward to your response.

Kind Regards,

It's nice to be able to send a message like that. In another time, that would have had me burned at a stake.

I'll post the response here.

amacachi

Peregrinus wrote: »

Most (all?) graveyards in Ireland are open to all comers. Not being a Catholic means you don’t get a church funeral, but I don’t think it would bar you from many cemeteries in Ireland.

I dunno, letter said I couldn't partake in any sacraments in the church and couldn't have a funeral or get married in one.

Peregrinus

amacachi wrote: »

I dunno, letter said I couldn't partake in any sacraments in the church and couldn't have a funeral or get married in one.

Yes, you can't have a Catholic funeral - i.e. a mass or a funeral or burial service. But there's nothing there about not being buried in a cemetery owned by a Catholic body, and in fact Catholic-owned cemeteries in Ireland routinely do accommodate non-Catholic burials (and vice versa - lots of Catholics are buried, with Catholic ceremonies, in, e.g., Church of Ireland churchyards).

Jamesyrp007

amacachi wrote: »

I dunno, letter said I couldn't partake in any sacraments in the church and couldn't have a funeral or get married in one.

Where can I acquire such a letter?? Sounds like you did some major desecration..

amacachi

Peregrinus wrote: »

Yes, you can't have a Catholic funeral - i.e. a mass or a funeral or burial service. But there's nothing there about not being buried in a cemetery owned by a Catholic body, and in fact Catholic-owned cemeteries in Ireland routinely do accommodate non-Catholic burials (and vice versa - lots of Catholics are buried, with Catholic ceremonies, in, e.g., Church of Ireland churchyards).

Fair enough.

Jamesyrp007 wrote: »

Where can I acquire such a letter?? Sounds like you did some major desecration..

Mate emailed the Archbishop, his secretary emailed back a letter, we both printed it out, signed and witnessed, done. So emailing the bishop of your diocese would seem to be a good plan.

Amtmann

As per my post above, here is the reply:

Dear xxx,
The procedure regarding formally defecting from the faith is a simple one. Write to me with your relevant details: Name, Address, Date of Birth, Parents’ Names; Parish of Baptism. I will then process your request. I will contact the Parish Priest of the parish of your baptism and ask him to include an annotation regarding your defection in the baptismal records. Once I have received confirmation from the Parish Priest that he has recorded your formal defection from the Catholic Church in the Baptismal Register, I will forward a copy of your Baptismal Certificate carrying the annotation.
Yours sincerely,

dalian11

Tremelos post is entirely accurate. Just two weeks ago I received the same reply from the diocesan secretary in Thurles (requesting my name/parish etc). Shortly thereafter I received a copy of my baptism/birth certificate from the diocesan office. This certificate had an annotation to the effect that I was no longer a member of the RC church.