Posted on 01/02/2013 10:59:47 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Following Pope Benedict XVI's repeated messages denouncing same-sex marriage, more Dutch Catholics are seeking ways to leave the Catholic Church. And one website is helping people to "de-baptize" themselves.
According to Reuters, the website ontdopen.nl ("de-baptize.nl") has gained significant traffic this month after the pope took the time in his Christmas speech to the Vatican bureaucracy to condemn gay marriage.
"They deny their nature and decide that it is not something previously given to them, but that they make it for themselves," he said. "The manipulation of nature, which we deplore today where our environment is concerned, now becomes man's fundamental choice where he himself is concerned."
The speech comes after the pope addressed gay marriage in his peace day message earlier this month. He said, "There is … a need to acknowledge and promote the natural structure of marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the face of attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different types of union.
"Such attempts actually harm and help to destabilize marriage, obscuring its specific nature and its indispensable role in society."
Early this year, the pontiff also said same-sex marriage threatens human dignity and the future of humanity itself.
Tom Roes set up the "de-baptism" website. He left the Catholic Church over the cover-up of sexual abuse in Catholic institutions. He told Reuters it's not possible to be "de-baptized," but said people can "unsubscribe or de-register themselves as Catholics" through his website. The website has a disclaimer stating that it is not responsible for any side effects of a life of sin such as diseases, natural disasters, or hell.
The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001. In the liberal country, about 28 percent of the population is Catholic and 18 percent is Protestant while many are not religious.
Jeannine Marino, program specialist for evangelization & catechesis at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, told The Christian Post early this year that "de-baptism" is impossible "because we believe that baptism permanently seals the person to Christ and the Church."
"People can stop participating in the Church, but we believe the grace of the sacrament has marked them forever," Marino explained. "If the request to be 'de-baptized' is meant to have one's name removed from the baptismal records, this would not be allowed since the baptismal record is a record of historical facts."
He told Reuters it’s not possible to be “de-baptized,”
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To his dubious credit, he remains theologically correct.
Bunch of drugged up homosexual nutballs over there ~
RE: To his dubious credit, he remains theologically correct.
So, once a Catholic, always a Catholic, even when you are now an atheist??
Good thing he did not graduate from an American high school. He might have to de-graduate as well.
the worship of God is not a populatiry contest. God doesn’t preside over a democracy. we serve HIM, not the other way around
Of course. Can you ever "unbirth" yourself?
>>The website has a disclaimer stating that it is not responsible for any side effects of a life of sin such as diseases, natural disasters, or hell.>>
Bunch of kooks. Anything for money.
IIRC, you profess to be some sort of Christian ... if so, and if you have been baptized in any of the 'normal' trinitarian Protestant communities, the Church would not presume to re-baptize you should you decide to join.
How many Dutch immigrants are muslim?
How many of them support same sex marriage?
P.T. Barnum was a genius.
You’re not getting the point — baptism is valid not only for Catholics but for all Christians who have been validly baptized.
Furthermore, should the homosexualist loon in the article come to his senses, repent, and return to God, we would not re-baptize him either. That’s what confession is for.
Pope responds: They can just go to Hell.
Theologically, I understand your point.
My question has more to do with COUNTING the number of adherents.
It looks like when we count adherents of certain denominations (Catholics or Protestant), we count them based on Baptisms even when many of those who were baptized ( at birth or as adults ) have turned against their faith and openly profess some other beliefs (or non-belief).
RE: Of course. Can you ever “unbirth” yourself?
Not sure what “birthing” has to do with “baptism”.
There is no such thing as de-baptism. Once a person is baptized — that is it.
“Pope responds: They can just go to Hell.”
I know you’re just trying to be funny, but the pope prays for lost sheep as should we all.
To prevent duplication, please do not alter the published headline, thx.
“... once a Catholic, always a Catholic, even when you are now an atheist?”
From my understanding, you can’t “un-do” a Baptism. However, a person can choose another faith (or become an atheist). Just like a person chooses to do sin... Baptism is a sacrament.. not a guarantee that a person won’t sin or go all kooky. In fact, Confirmation (another Sacrament) is when the person chooses to remain a Catholic.
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