Catholic defection group ,Count Me Out , Suspends service.

national | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Wednesday October 13, 2010 14:41

by Kevin Flanagan

Count Me Out , which had simplified the process for Catholics who wished to formally leave the Church, has suspended its service. This follows the Church’s modification of the Code of Canon Law in April this year which removed all references to the act of formal defection, the process used by those who wish to formally renounce their membership of the Church.

Anybody baptised as a Catholic is still counted among the congregation of the church - regardless of what beliefs they currently hold - until they complete a formal declaration of defection’’ from the Catholic Church

CountMeOut was set up last July, following publication of the Ryan report . Its website provided a simple three step internet procedure for Church defectees .and within a month over 2,000 people had completed declarations of defection.

According to the notice on its website Count Me Out has been contacted by increasing numbers of people whose defections have not been processed, due to the limbo created by the canon law amendment. Despite Count Me Out’s requests for clarification , the Church has yet to reach a firm position on how or whether they will continue to accept requests for the annotation of the baptismal register .

The Church issued the following statement to the media on the matter.

“The Holy See confirmed at the end of August that it was introducing changes to Canon Law and as a result it will no longer be possible to formally defect from the Catholic Church. This will not alter the fact that many people can defect from the Church, and continue to do so, albeit not through a formal process. This is a change that will affect the Church throughout the world. The Archdiocese of Dublin plans to maintain a register to note the expressed desire of those who wish to defect. Details will be communicated to those involved in the process when they are finalised. Last year 229 people formally defected from the Church through the Archdiocese of Dublin. 312 have done so, so far this year.”