From All Africa: Catholic Church Publishes Guidelines On Defections

The Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts has published in English the clarified guidelines for baptized Catholics who formally separate from the Church.

Cardinal Julián Herranz, then president of the pontifical council, issued a statement on formal acts of defection from the Church last March.

The document was drawn up after many requests for clarifications of the so-called formal act of defection from the Church, mentioned in the Code of Canon Law.

Vatican dicasteries examined the issue to identify the theological and doctrinal components and then “the juridical formalities necessary so that such an action would constitute a true ‘formal act’ of defection,” Cardinal Herranz told Zenit.

“The formal act of defection,” the document states, “must have more than a juridical-administrative character (the removal of one’s name from a Church membership registry maintained by the government in order to produce certain civil consequences), but be configured as a true separation from the constitutive elements of the life of the Church: It supposes, therefore, an act of apostasy, heresy or schism.”

The document further lists the three steps necessary for the formal act of defection to be valid as; the internal decision to leave the Catholic Church, the realization and external manifestation of that decision; and the reception of that decision by the competent ecclesiastical authority.”

The document clarifies that the third step must be carried out “by a person who is canonically capable and in conformity with the canonical norms.”

The document has been transmitted by Benedict XVI to the presidents of all Episcopal conferences.

Cardinal Herranz, 76, retired on Thursday February 15, 2007 as president of the Pontifical council.

From my perspective the short answer as to whether or not I qualify is no.

The Roman Catholic Church is faced with many folks who wish to be acknowledged as non-Catholics in governmental registers, especially in European countries or in Africa. I can clearly see their point in saying that you are a Catholic regardless of whether or not you are listed in a governmental register.

I do have difficulty in seeing how they can extrapolate their criteria to me, because it confuses the key point.

I freely acknowledge that according to Roman Catholic Church juridical rules I am a schismatic. I also freely acknowledge the fact that I have externally manifested my separation from the Roman Church. I even sent them a letter to that affect, because they kept sending me contribution envelopes, even though I hadn’t been in one parish for three years and another in five years. I don’t know whether that means a ‘competent ecclesiastical authority’ has accepted my decision (I did stop receiving envelopes), but for the sake of argument, let’s say such authority has accepted my decision. I also think I am competent and ‘canonically capable.’

That takes care of most of the criteria.

Where this reasoning falls is on the criteria that I ‘[make an] internal decision to leave the Catholic Church. Ummm, no. The Roman Catholic Church yes, the Catholic Church no.

I admit that the Roman Church does think (kind of, sort of, begrudgingly) that it is the one and only Catholic Church. But, can I honestly say that I made an internal decision to leave the Catholic Church? Nope.

The problem with over legislating is that eventually all the legislation starts to bump up against other legislation, and beyond legislation, up against practice. Perhaps the Roman Church has gotten too big to legislate cleanly and centrally.

All I know is that as a member of the PNCC I am fully Catholic, maybe even more catholic than the Pope 😉