Explanatory note

An explanatory note regarding the Certificate of Cancellation of Membership issued by the Roman Catholic Church in Norway

Cancelling one’s membership in the Catholic Church and the consequences that follow are not quite the same in all cases. Therefore along with the Certificate of Cancellation of Membership that you receive, we wish to add some information about the consequences.

In Norway one belongs to the Catholic Church in two ways. The first and most important applies throughout the world, namely by being baptized in the church or by converting to it.

The second way is, in accordance with Norwegian law, to be registered as a Catholic here.  It is on the basis of this register that we can be alotted a state subsidy for our membership. The Roman Catholic Church in Norway asks every Catholic to comply with this rule and formally register as a member.

There can be different reasons for not wanting to, or indeed being unable to be registered as a church member. One does not thereby cease to be a Catholic nor does one lose the right to receive the church’s sacraments. Note however that the Catholic church in Norway has special rules for participation in parish council elections and such like. These rules can require that one is a registered member.

Cancellation of membership often involves not just membership as understood in Norwegian law but, as defined in church law, in the religious sense. This is a consequence of forming opinions on important questions of faith or morals that contradict church teaching or that one makes a decisive break with the Catholic community. If such is the case one loses the right to receive the sacraments of the Catholic Church throughout the world. Accepting the consequences of such a break is of course the responsibility of each individual. The reasons for the break can be many and sometimes can be due to the failings of others in the church.

When someone leaves the Catholic Church in the religious sense, we nonetheless feel a pastoral responsibility for them. The Church is called to be a ‘mother’ and mothers never cease to care about their children, no matter what difficulties may arise. Our guiding thought is always, the words of the prophet Isaiah, «Does a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion for the child she has borne?» Is.49,15. At the very least we continue to pray for all those who have once belonged to our community of faith.

Everyone is welcome to renew their contact with the church and we are ready to meet them in whatever way they choose to approach us. Catholics who return to the church are not considered as ‘converts’ in the usual sense, but as ‘belonging’ and as having ‘found the way home’.

The Roman Catholic Church in Norway
September 13, 2019