Leaving The Church For Good?

[DojoGrant]

I am aware that the Church cannot read hearts and does not state if someone has been condemned for all eternity.

But consider this situation. A person is raised in the Catholic Church, receiving the sacraments of initiation. Later in life, they leave the Church believing her to teach false doctrines (ie, they leave for a fundamental Baptist Church). This person is extremely opposed to Catholicism and believes the Church to be a false religion and proclaims as much.

HOWEVER, the person, once spoken to, demonstrates that he or she does not have a firm grip on Catholic teaching, accusing her of teachings she does not hold, or holding great misconceptions about their teachings.

Would this person be considered "outside the Catholic Church," having rejected the Truth once received, thus forfitting his or her salvation, or is salvation still possible since they seem to demonstrate an improper catechesis, without truly knowing what the Church teaches?

And finally, if they reject to learn what the Church truly teaches once confronted on these issues, does this change things and in what way?

I know this is a lot! Hopefully someone can answer, though!

[Adeodatus]

A general rule of thumb: Once a Catholic, always a Catholic. You can never undo your baptism. In this life, even getting excommunicated doesn't put you outside the Church. It only removes you from the sacraments, with a view to enticing you back into the full sacramental life of the Church.

Your hypothetical apostate does not have "a firm grip on Catholic teaching". This is ignorance, and ignorance is (under certain conditions) a mitigating factor. As Scripture says, he who knows less will be beaten with fewer blows. So ignorance can excuse this person, especially if they have been misled by malicious people.

As long as this person is alive, no matter what they get up to, he or she is still a member of the Church. Only death brings definitive and divine judgement, and even then, if they end up in hell, they will still be a baptised person, albeit suffering that eternal separation from God we rightly call 'hell'.

But as an adult, there is an onus on them to find out what's true and what's not. Your hypothetical apostate does not want to find out, even when confronted with the truth. This is what we mean by the deadly sin of "sloth". Sloth is not about laziness. It is refusing to bother about what is true. A complete indifference to truth. And sloth, quite rightly, is called a "deadly sin"---one of seven.

So basically, at this point, things aren't looking too good for the hypothetical apostate. But there are other factors at play we cannot see. Why is this person so bitter, so angry with the Catholic Church? You can only really hate something that you either once loved or could love. Otherwise you'd just be indifferent. There are all sorts of emotional and psychological factors at play, that only God can see through and judge aright. And herein lies hope...

My advice for this person's friends is to be the visible, tangible expression of Jesus's love for him or her. And to pray with firm hope that God may give them grace to see and believe, and to fall in love again with His Church, His Body.

[BLAZEr]

Boy oh Boy, I love Dominicans. Peace, Deacon!