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Vatican upholds excommunication of US deacon who resigned after son was molested by priest
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2026
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Didn't want to edit so I will just add here: I had not read the article yet when I wrote the above, so I was unaware that the guy had joined another denomination when he left the church, and does not wish to return. Technically, that refusal to return to Catholicism and "submit to the pope" is solid ground for excommunication from the Catholic church.
But having known myself at least two or three dozen openly lapsed Catholics over the years that I met in other churches, it's pretty clear they don't commonly excommunicate for this alone, so I stand by what I said: the real crime was not leaving, but leaving publicly, and in open protest of the assaults on his child, and in such a way that the official doing the excommunication used it not to bring him back, but to punish him and his entire family for not suffering in silence.
sure, but the church seldom if ever-- penalizes anyone for switching faiths. This was about going after him because he is an angry victim, not because he's hanging with anglicans now.