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Step 1
Choose to leave the Catholic church based upon your own reasons. Where you choose to practice--or not practice--your faith is a personal decision. If you have questions about what the church practices and believes, talk with a priest who may be able to answer your concerns. If you aren't satisfied, consider finding a new church.
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Step 2
Stop going to Catholic church services at the parish you normally attend. You generally don't need to inform the church formally if you intend to leave permanently. If you are involved in parish ministries, contact the leaders to inform them of your impending absence.
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Step 3
Call the parish you attend to formally ask them to remove your name from the members or regular attendees list as a courtesy. This might help to eliminate mailings from coming to your home and requests for money.
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Step 4
Understand that there is no secular legal method for leaving the catholic church, but within the Catholic church a person can be forced out, usually by acting in a way that is contrary to church belief or goes against the code of canon law. Excommunication is the formal way the Catholic church punishes a member. The member is excluded from church worship services and can't receive the sacraments.
Comments
dempsey7588 said
on 12/8/2009 To make it more simpler, you leave the Catholic Church if you no longer believe in its teachings. Not going to mass is an outward sign you are not Catholic anymore.
Catholics are indoctrinated from infancy with the baloney notion of "once a Catholic always a Catholic". This is pure BS. So don't listen to their side of it. Since they are brainwashed.
If you don't believe in "Holy Mother Church's" teachings then you already left. Don't let Catholics try to convince you otherwise.
tucsondad said
on 8/1/2009 Wow, I can't believe he calls himself fastlearner. How about calling the Pope and asking him to excommunicate you? That would pretty much get it done. Check it out... http://www.ehow.com/how_5251651_become-recovering-catholic.html or join my group "eHow Atheists"
fastlearner2 said
on 7/19/2009 Step 4 is incorrect. To formally leave the Church, you may write a letter to your local ordinary (your Bishop) announcing your intent.
However, before getting to that step, keep in mind that many Catholics leave the faith because they do not understand it. Instead, they believe untrue things about Catholicism or don't understand the difference between Catholicism and, say, non-denominational Christians, and feel it's OK to "switch". Before making any rash decisions, it's important to make sure it's the right decision. There are many websites where you can ask anonymous questions and get answers. And if you don't believe in Catholicism, you don't believe in Catholicism, but at least it's an informed decision.