Folia Canonica 4. (2001)
STUDIES - John D. Faris: A Canonical Examination of the Acquisition, Consequences and Loss of Membership in a Church - A Catholic Perspective
150 JOHN D. FARIS individuated in virtue of a person’s age,70 mental competency,71 place of residence (or lack thereof),72 lay73 or religious status,74 marital status,75 and the reception of sacred orders:76 All of these factors create the complex corpus of rights and obligations with which a member of the Church is endowed. Loss of Membership? Inasmuch as Catholic doctrine considers the reception of the sacrament of baptism to be irrevocable, once a person is validly baptized, he or she retains the status of “baptized” regardless of his or her participation in the life of the Church. This doctrine has ramifications with regard to the possibility of loss of membership in the Church. Exclusion In treating the issue of exclusion from the Church, certain theological distinctions must be made:77 Through baptism a person is incorporated in Christ and becomes a member of the people of God. Membership status in the Christian Church acquired through the valid administration of baptism78 is irrevocable, both on the part of the baptized person and the Church. The baptized individual retains his or her ontological status of “Christian” regardless of the faith commitment (or lack thereof) or lifestyle. Furthermore, the Church is incapable of revoking the baptismal status once it is conferred. No censure, not even excommunication, separates the baptized person from the communion of the Church. A person through sin or a loss of faith can morally distance him/herself from the Church and God. Inasmuch as sin is a personal act for which no one can substitute, the Church is again incapable of separating the person from the Mystical Body of Christ. 70 CCEO c. 909 / C1C cc. 97, 99. 71 CCEO c. 909 §3 / C1C cc. 97 §3 and 99. 72 CCEO cc. 911 - 912 / CIC cc. 100, 102. 73 CCEO cc. 399^109 / CIC cc. 208-223. 74 CCEO cc. 410-569 / CIC cc. 573-746. 75 See CCEO cc. 407 76 CCEO cc. 323-398 / CIC c. 232-293. 77 A. Calabrese, Diritto penale canonico, Città del Vaticano 1990, 116. 78 Cf. CCEO c. 7 § 1
