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can catholic baptism be revoked?

posted 4 months ago in Catholic
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    1.
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    Newbee
    Lorsee    October 31, 2012   California

    Hi everyone,

    I am catholic and am handling the wedding ceremony as a sacrament.  We have not had pre-cana yet, but will very soon.

    My fiance was baptised Catholic as a baby, and was raised Catholic for the first 7 years of his life.  Then his mother married and took on my fiance's step-father's religion, and he then was raised as Jehovah's Witness.  His mother wrote a letter to the bishop, and asked this baptism be revoked/made null and void.  My fiance left the JWs nearly 10 years ago, and currently follows no religion at all.

    Can a baptism be revoked, and essentailly go through an annullment?  The sacrament of marriage can...so I'm wondering if the letter she wrote the bishop could essentially do the same?  I've no idea if she ever received a response or what happened after that...religion is a very touchy subject for us all.

    I feel as if once baptized, always baptized.  But I'm really not sure.

     
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    Blushing bee
    Petor2011    October 14, 2011   Highland Heights, Kentucky

    I am not catholic, but..... I am lutheran and before my husband and i got married, my husband had to get baptised since he had never been, in order to get married. During the "baptism" meeting/classes with our pastor, he said that once you are baptised your are always baptised. I don't see how you can un-do a baptism....

     
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    Bumble bee
    Soladylike       Tennessee

    @Lorsee: I agree, once you are accepted into the kingdom of GOD, how can you be unaccepted? I would think his baptism would still be valid.

     
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    Helper bee
    35thannidaughter    June 15, 2001   Glendale, AZ

    I am also Catholic, and i have never heard of this being done.  She may have asked, but I doubt if they would have done anything about it.  I know when you start Pre Cana, they will get a copy of his baptism certificate.  This is done by calling the church where he was baptised.  This certificate carries all the records for that person.  For example, First Communion and Confirmation.  This certificate will tell you what you need to know.  

     
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    Newbee
    HBanan    September 19, 2014  

    She could have asked, but the answer would have been "No." A friend of mine who left the Church actually wrote to the Vatican to see if he could officially be unbaptized, and did not get his wish. It doesn't work that way. In the same way, you can't call a Church and ask to not have had your First Communion, or ask a priest to de-absolve you of your sins after Confession. Just call the church where he was baptised and get the record.

     
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    Sugar bee
    joy2011    October 22, 2011   NE Ohio

    I do not know, if, in the eyes of the Catholic church, you can be "unbaptized," (I doubt it,) but I do know that you can write a letter to the bishop saying you renounce Catholicism. I highly doubt that a parent can do this for you.

    (Writing a letter to the bishop is actually the only way to have this done. Many people go around saying, "I was baptized Catholic but I'm not Catholic anymore." Well, actually, unless you've written a letter renouncing Catholicism, then the Catholic church still considers you Catholic, just unpracticing!)

    I think the best way to find this out, if you are really curious, would be to call the diocesan office in which your FI was baptized, b/c I would assume they would keep a record of such a thing as an actual "unbaptism," or they would be able to confirm that there is no such thing.

     
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    Busy bee
    bluebonnet    July 31, 2010   Houston, TX

    I'm pretty sure you can't undo a baptism. I'd call the church where he was baptized, and ask for a copy of the certificate. If there was any weird situation with his baptism (which I don't think there would be), the church keeping his baptism records would know about it.

     
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    Helper bee
    twoangels    4/10/2010   Wisconsin

    @Lorsee:  No.   Baptism is for life.   That said, just as we can invalidly marry, we can be invalidly baptised. 

    You stated that a marriage can be annullled.  Its important to understand that an annulllment rules that the marriage was invalid.  It does not undo the marriage.  It states that something was lacking at the time of the wedding that rendered the attempt at marrying invalid.

    There can be cases where people have been invalidly baptized.  The Church requires people to be baptized either through pouring water over the head or by emersion.  Baptisms are considered invalid if someone merely sprinkles you with water.  Also, a person can't be baptised with a substance other than water (it seems people have actually attempted this).  We also baptise people in the name of the father, son and holy spirit. 

    This is important when it comes to the fact that we recognize the validity of baptisms occuring among other Christian groups.  When non-Catholic Christian seeks to convert to Catholicism, if he was validly baptised in his previous place of worship, he will only receive his first Holy Communion and confirmation at the Easter Vigil Mass where he will come into full communion with the Church.  If he was not validly baptised, than he'll receive all 3 sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil. 

     
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    Sugar bee
    bookworm88    August 4, 2012  

    @twoangels:  When non-Catholic Christian seeks to convert to Catholicism, if he was validly baptised in his previous place of worship, he will only receive his first Holy Communion and confirmation at the Easter Vigil Mass where he will come into full communion with the Church.  If he was not validly baptised, than he'll receive all 3 sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil. 


    (You may know this, but the OP may not.) This isn't a quick process-- it's called Rite of Christian Intiation of Adults (RCIA). RCIA is generally a 9-month long course in which you go to weekly classes and meetings after the homily each Sunday.  (I'm in it right now!)  Even if you're baptised, if you haven't received Holy Communion then you are considered a "Candidate" for the entire process until you receive the other sacraments at Easter Vigil. 

     

     
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    Helper bee
    80sbee    November 10, 2012  

    Once a catholic, always a catholic is what I have heard from a priest. Even if you convert to another religion or become an athiest, you cant cleanse yourself from the catholic baptism.

     

     

     
    11.
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    Bumble bee
    eagle    August 2012   Calgary, AB, Canada

    YES!  Your Catholic baptism can be cancelled.  It is called a formal act of defection. 

    I was raised in the RCC and I requested a formal act of defection when I was 18.  This essentially nullifies my baptism.  I had to write a letter to the Bishop of the dioceses I was baptized in, and then meet with a couple nuns to show them they couldn't save me.  

    As far as my research, and the nuns and Bishop told me, the baptism can't be "cancelled" because it was a historical event, but I am no longer a baptized member of the church, I am not counted in their numbers, and I am not free of original sin anymore.  

    My baptismal and confirmation/communion certificates were destroyed.  Some people say that this process doesn't exist officially in the church, but I went thru it and met with several religious officials along the way. It IS possible.  

    If you'd like more information on the process of the formal act of defection... visit: 

    http://www.atheistactivist.org/Defect.html

    http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=11268

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_act_of_defection_from_the_Catholic_Church

     
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    Helper bee
    twoangels    4/10/2010   Wisconsin

    @eagle:  You need to read your own links. 

    "the fact of this formal act was to be noted in the register of the person's baptism. This annotation, like other annotations in the baptismal register, such as those of marriage or ordination, was unrelated to the fact of the baptism: it was not a "debaptism" (a term sometimes used journalistically): the fact of having been baptized remained a fact, and the Catholic Church holds that baptism marks a person with a seal or character that "is an ontological and permanent bond which is not lost by reason of any act or fact of defection"."

    It's also no longer possible to do this:

    "

    The motu proprio Omnium in mentem of 26 October 2009 removed from the canons in question all reference to an act of formal defection from the Catholic Church.[5][6][7] Accordingly, "it is no longer appropriate to enter attempts at formal defection in the sacramental records since this juridic action is now abolished. "[8]

    In late August 2010, the Holy See confirmed that it was no longer possible to defect formally from the Catholic Church.[9] However, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin declared on 12 October 2010 that it intended to keep a register of those who expressed the wish to defect.[9][10] Since this fell short of making an annotation in the baptismal register, CountMeOut, an association in the archdiocese that had been promoting formal defections from the Catholic Church thereupon ceased to provide defection forms.[11][12]

    Although the act of "formal defection" from the Catholic Church has thus been abolished, "public defection" from the Catholic faith or from the communion of the Church is of course possible, as is expressly recognized in the Code of Canon Law.[13] Even private defection is subject to the automatic spiritual penalty of excommunication laid down in canon 1364 of the Code of Canon Law."

     
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    Bumble bee
    eagle    August 2012   Calgary, AB, Canada

    @twoangels:  I did it pre 2009. 

     
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    Helper bee
    flyawaycricket    October 20, 2012   Fredericksburg, VA/Live in Florida Panhandle

    "I confess ONE baptism for the forgiveness of sins"-Nicene Creed

     
    15.
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    Newbee
    Lorsee    October 31, 2012   California

    thanks for all of your replies!

    even though FI was baptized catholic, we still need to seek a dispensation since he's is not currently Catholic.  I assumed the baptism would be enough, but it will at least help secure the dispensation.

    and no, a baptism cannot be revoked.  neither can a confirmation or holy orders, according to my priest!

     

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