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Belgian Catholics ask to be ‘de-baptized’

October 17, 2024

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CWN Editor's Note: More than 500 Belgian Catholics have written to the apostolic nuncio, asking to be “de-baptized.”

The 524 people who signed an open letter to the papal nuncio said that they acting in protest, responding to the visit to their country by Pope Francis and his public statement that abortion is murder.

In Belgium as in Germany, Catholics are subject to a tax that is collected by the government for the Church. However unlike Germany, which allows people to change or drop their religious affiliation, Belgium requires that the individual’s name must not be listed on the church’s baptismal register. Since the sacrament of Baptism cannot be reversed, Catholic parishes do not delete names, but add a note on the baptismal register indicating that the person applied for “formal withdrawal from the Church.”

The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.

 


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  • Posted by: feedback - Oct. 17, 2024 9:51 PM ET USA

    This is a major failure of the local Catholic clergy to teach the Faith, both on abortion and on the Sacrament of Baptism. And, why are the Belgian bishops still silent now? What do they have to fear? Or, are they in cahoots with the politicians? This is also a warning sign to all: that teaching the Catholic Faith must always be consistent and free of ambiguities. Yes meaning yes, and no meaning no. All else comes from the evil one. [Matthew 5:37]