A lapsed Catholic, sometimes known as a fallen-away Catholic or inactive Catholic, is a person who has ceased practicing the Catholic faith, in the sense of attending Mass. Such a person may still identify as a Catholic.
Contents |
According to the Catholic belief, a baptized person cannot be "de-baptized". Baptism is said to "seal the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark of belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation."[1]
A "lapsed Catholic" who has stopped practicing the faith (one who does not go to Mass or confession, or carry out other practices of Catholicism) is not necessarily an "ex-Catholic", a term that would apply instead to someone who no longer identifies as Catholic or has even adopted a new religion.
"Accuse a non-practising, non-participating, non-contributing Catholic of not being a Catholic and almost invariably they will be quite offended. Thousands of them continue to describe themselves as Catholic, in the census returns, for instance, but they have no intention in the world of going to Mass or saying prayers or contributing to the curate's collection – you must be joking! Yet they are Catholics and, in a set of given circumstances expect, even demand, certain services from the Church."[2]
Catholics who have merely ceased to practice the Catholic religion need only return to its practice, without having to go through any special rite of "readmission" to the Church. Some may freely choose go through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) for a refresher education in the faith.
Some who are seen and see themselves as "lapsed" may attend Mass only on special occasions like Christmas and Easter or for weddings or funerals. Such lapsed Catholics are colloquially referred to by such terms as Cultural Catholics, Two-Timers, Chreasters,[3] C&E Catholics,[4] Poinsettia & Lily Catholics,[5] CEOs (Christmas and Easter Only), CAPE Catholics (Christmas, Ash [Wednesday], Palm [Sunday], Easter), PACE Catholics (Palm [Sunday], Ash [Wednesday], Christmas, Easter), CASE Catholics (Christmas and Sometimes Easter), CMEs (Christmas, Mother's Day and Easter), Christmas Bunnies, or A&P Catholics[6] (for Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday).
Similarly, a Muslim who does not fulfill sunnah or even fard (obligatory) ritual obligations, such as wearing a headcovering (hijab) for a female, or engages in an unlawful (haram) act, such as eating pork, does not cease to be a Muslim,[7] only a sinner, in a state somewhat analogous to lapsed Catholicism: however, a Muslim who who ceases to practice any of the Five Pillars of Islam or who denies the obligatory nature of fard obligations (as opposed to merely not practicing them, analogous to a Catholic who acknowledges dogmata yet does not practice them) according to the historical consensus (ijma) of the Muslim community (ummah) or the Four Schools of Islam, such as the five daily prayers (salat), is considered by Islamic authorities to be an apostate,[8] and must "re-convert" to Islam by reciting the Islamic declaration of faith, the shahada, again, just as a new convert would do[9] (cf. Definitions of Apostasy in Islam). Some apply the description "non-practising Muslim" to those who omit prayer and other ritual obligations,[10][11][12][13][14] and some apply it to those who do not expressly deny the faith and who fulfill the ritual obligations but who are sinners in other respects.[15][16] A few secular Muslims apply it to those who identify as Muslim or were perhaps born Muslim, but may have no belief whatsoever, as long as they do not convert from or speak against Islam; this rare use is the most analogous to the concept of "lapsed Catholic".[17][18]
Jewish identity is passed matrilinearly, so being nonobservant does not entail being a lapsed Jew: there are many atheists and agnostics who identify as Jewish, and the question of whether Judaism is a religion or a nation has been hotly contested amongst rabbis for thousands of years.
"He was of the faith chiefly in the sense that the church he currently did not attend was Catholic" (Kingsley Amis, One Fat Englishman (1963), chapter 8).