Excommunicated for apostasy?

Confession with repent retire the excomunication

 

As explained by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts:

"3. ... [H]eresy (whether formal or material), schism and apostasy do not in themselves constitute a formal act of defection if they are not externally concretized and manifested to the ecclesiastical authority in the required manner.

4. The defection must be a valid juridical act, placed by a person who is canonically capable and in conformity with the canonical norms that regulate such matters (cfr. cann.124-126). Such an act must be taken personally, consciously and freely.

5. It is required, moreover, that the act be manifested by the interested party in written form, before the competent authority of the Catholic Church: the Ordinary or proper pastor, who is uniquely qualified to make the judgment concerning the existence or non-existence of the act of the will as described above in n. 2.

Consequently, only the convergence of the two elements — the theological content of the interior act and its manifestation in the manner defined above — constitutes the actus formalis defectionis ab Ecclesia catholica, with the corresponding canonical penalties (cfr. can. 1364, § 1)." (Emphasis mine).

It does not sound from your story like this was present in your case. Furthermore, you confessed your period of atheism to the priest. It is safe to presume that he took all of your circumstances into consideration when granting you absolution, and that if he thought that an excommunication needed to be lifted, he would have informed you and led you through that process himself.

If you have further questions about your case, you can certainly seek further counsel from a priest in person, either in confession or outside of it (if Saturday confessions at your parish are packed, however, it might be safer to ask for a separate appointment, even if it is still in the confessional to keep anonymity, so as to ensure that you would have the proper time to deal with the matter). Asking for a more concrete answer to your case on an online forum goes beyond the scope of the kind of help that can be safely provided through such means, in my opinion.

As an aside, it is correct that excommunicable offenses cannot be lifted by priests, except for that incurred through abortion. Others may be lifted by the Bishop, and in such cases the priest would ask the penitent to return in one month to give him time to present the matter to the Bishop (while keeping the anonymity of the penitent intact) and obtain the lifting of the excommunication. There are a few offenses that can only be lifted by the Apostolic See. Yet during the Year of Mercy, certain priests -were- given the authority to cover the other offenses, which was then extended to these priests indefinitely on the last day of that liturgical year. Hence, anybody needing any type of excommunication to be lifted can do so with greater ease nowadays. Again, if anyone has any questions about their given case, a private consultation with a priest is the safe way to go.

Good reads for any further clarifications regarding this topic in general:

• https://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2019/0...ted-catholic-have-the-sanction-lifted-part-i/
• https://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2019/0...lic-have-the-sanction-lifted-part-ii/#forward

Onward unto God!
Pax

 

It does not. It must be written and presented by the individual to the competent ecclesial authority (priest or Bishop), who must then personally examine the request so as to decree whether there is truly an act of the will present. This would usually involve a meeting with the individual. If after all this it is deemed that the person's formal act of apostasy is a true personal act (that is, done knowingly and willingly and with the requisite freedom), it would be annotated in the person's baptismal certificate. And even THEN the Baptismal Bond would remain in place.

A post on an online forum does not constitute such a formal act, especially if done under a fictitious name/avatar.

Breathe easily, brother! Our Lord plays the long game. Welcome back to the embrace of Mother Church.

 

I'm 90% sure converting from Atheist to Catholic is much more easier than converting from Catholic from Atheist to Catholic again.

 

Sorry for beimg unclear. I was referring to the apostacy itself. That's what needs to be written and presented to the proper ecclesial authority. As I see it, there is no excommunication at all that needs to be lifted. Conditions were not met from what you presented.