"The only way for baptized Catholics to opt out of the system is to declare formally that they are leaving the Church, after which they are told they may no longer receive the sacraments [....]"
I don't understand this at all.
If someone leaves the Catholic Church in some formal way, say, by publicly converting to another faith, isn't it t…
"The only way for baptized Catholics to opt out of the system is to declare formally that they are leaving the Church, after which they are told they may no longer receive the sacraments [....]"
I don't understand this at all.
If someone leaves the Catholic Church in some formal way, say, by publicly converting to another faith, isn't it the case that the only thing the person has to do is go to confession to be back in full communion with the Church?
Isn't it the case that once a person is baptized, he/she is a Catholic forever?
If the answers are yes and yes, how can the Catholic Church in Germany inform people that they cannot partake of sacraments, especially the sacrament of Penance?
I have been to Germany many times and never paid a bean in Church Tax. No one has ever checked if I ought to have been paying before I took Communion. And I do not look un-German.
A very good point. I have seen people ferociously criticising the Church Tax as blatent Simony - asking payment for something sacred. Yet the Vatican seems unconcerned about it.... Especially as they are getting a rake off.
Support of the Church is a precept of the Church. If the local Church in Germany defines this as paying this tax, and someone isn't, then they're no longer a "practicing" Catholic, in the same way that someone who skips Sunday masses doesn't qualify as a practicing Catholic and wouldn't be able to access things like marriage or baptism for a child in the US. I'd imagine that just like in the US, there's a lot of leeway given for people who show up in a communion line or confessional line, but a lot less given if someone wants to be married in the Church.
My Dominican Fraternity asks for a letter of good standing from a potential member's parish; this seems pretty analogous to that.
The Church can define support any way they want, but if one can only receive a sacrament for a fee that is the grave matter of simony, and that's what this looks like.
One of the recent popes told the Germans they could not refuse to give people the sacraments unless they paid the Church tax. They politely ignored him.
My guess is the church officially considers it a tax imposed by a legitimate civil authority - you aren't excommunicated for paying the money, but rather for formally declaring you're no longer Catholic. It doesn't sit right with me either, but as a vaguely analogous situation, imagine a town split by a river. The town's civil authority decides to impose a toll on the bridge - so now residents from one side of the river have to pay (the civil authority) to attend Mass, but it's not simony. It wouldn't become simony even if the town gave some of the toll revenue to the parish, maybe to support the parish school.
Further thought: any input from the numerous US and UK military people who have served in Germany? Though they might mostly have their own on base chaplains.
Formal apostasy incurs automatic excommunication. When they are told they may not receive the Sacraments, the penalties of that excommunication are incurred. If they wish to receive the Sacraments, they have to get the excommunication lifted. The process typically starts in the Confessional, even if the priest is not authorized to lift that particular excommunication he can give instructions on who to talk to.
Of course, if the person is dying, any priest can lift the excommunication (contingent on them going through the normal process if they survive), give them absolution, Holy Communion and Anointing.
"The only way for baptized Catholics to opt out of the system is to declare formally that they are leaving the Church, after which they are told they may no longer receive the sacraments [....]"
I don't understand this at all.
If someone leaves the Catholic Church in some formal way, say, by publicly converting to another faith, isn't it the case that the only thing the person has to do is go to confession to be back in full communion with the Church?
Isn't it the case that once a person is baptized, he/she is a Catholic forever?
If the answers are yes and yes, how can the Catholic Church in Germany inform people that they cannot partake of sacraments, especially the sacrament of Penance?
I have been to Germany many times and never paid a bean in Church Tax. No one has ever checked if I ought to have been paying before I took Communion. And I do not look un-German.
I guess I was thinking of a German who wants to reconcile with the Church on his or her deathbed. The person might think it would not be possible.
A very good point. I have seen people ferociously criticising the Church Tax as blatent Simony - asking payment for something sacred. Yet the Vatican seems unconcerned about it.... Especially as they are getting a rake off.
Support of the Church is a precept of the Church. If the local Church in Germany defines this as paying this tax, and someone isn't, then they're no longer a "practicing" Catholic, in the same way that someone who skips Sunday masses doesn't qualify as a practicing Catholic and wouldn't be able to access things like marriage or baptism for a child in the US. I'd imagine that just like in the US, there's a lot of leeway given for people who show up in a communion line or confessional line, but a lot less given if someone wants to be married in the Church.
My Dominican Fraternity asks for a letter of good standing from a potential member's parish; this seems pretty analogous to that.
The Church can define support any way they want, but if one can only receive a sacrament for a fee that is the grave matter of simony, and that's what this looks like.
If the Church understood this as simony, it would not be in place. It's not a matter of someone paying Father $20 for absolution.
One of the recent popes told the Germans they could not refuse to give people the sacraments unless they paid the Church tax. They politely ignored him.
My guess is the church officially considers it a tax imposed by a legitimate civil authority - you aren't excommunicated for paying the money, but rather for formally declaring you're no longer Catholic. It doesn't sit right with me either, but as a vaguely analogous situation, imagine a town split by a river. The town's civil authority decides to impose a toll on the bridge - so now residents from one side of the river have to pay (the civil authority) to attend Mass, but it's not simony. It wouldn't become simony even if the town gave some of the toll revenue to the parish, maybe to support the parish school.
Further thought: any input from the numerous US and UK military people who have served in Germany? Though they might mostly have their own on base chaplains.
Formal apostasy incurs automatic excommunication. When they are told they may not receive the Sacraments, the penalties of that excommunication are incurred. If they wish to receive the Sacraments, they have to get the excommunication lifted. The process typically starts in the Confessional, even if the priest is not authorized to lift that particular excommunication he can give instructions on who to talk to.
Of course, if the person is dying, any priest can lift the excommunication (contingent on them going through the normal process if they survive), give them absolution, Holy Communion and Anointing.