Those who have drifted away from the Church, are they Catholics? What responsibility do we have toward them?

When someone leaves the Church, it is easy to say: “He was never Catholic.” Why, then, were the sacraments administered to him? Enough of excuses and superficiality. Before the wolves catch them, why do we not move? It is time to be “apostolically more aggressive.”

A drama

People continue to be baptized wholesale, married in the Church with almost symbolic preparation, given the anointing of the sick when they request it…, but when someone leaves the Church and goes to another religious group, people say: “He was never Catholic.” And with that one feels free of any responsibility, as if nothing had happened. If this were true, why, then, do we continue baptizing the children of those who do not practice the faith? Why are these people still married in the Church? The question is: “Do those who have drifted away remain Catholics? To what extent?” If they remain Catholics, what is our responsibility toward them? Is it enough to keep administering the sacraments to them without first having brought them closer to God and to the Christian community?

Routine pastoral care

Without a doubt, what is currently happening within the Church is very regrettable, very regrettable. It would be as if, in some society, degrees continued to be given to everyone, even though for different reasons they did not have the proper preparation. Everyone would be doctors, engineers, teachers, without even knowing how to read.

And that is what is currently happening within the Church. Sometimes one hears it said: “So-and-so left the Church and went to another religious group. And to think that he was baptized, confirmed, and married in the Church. How was all this possible?” Of course, he received these sacraments without being aware of what this implied. Empty sacraments. Rites, valid in themselves, but without efficacy for those who receive them.

We must remember that the sacraments are not magical rites, valid in themselves and with certain and identical effects for everyone. Their efficacy depends greatly on the participation of those who receive them, before, during, and after their reception. Thus the practice of distributing sacraments just like that, without the support of a true spiritual commitment, has no biblical or theological basis at all; rather, it is the clear expression of a routine pastoral system without reflection or serious commitment.

Let the wolf take charge

As a clear manifestation of this spirit of superficiality, which pervades many Catholic circles, we have the idea that “the other religious groups are also evangelizing.” As if to say: “Since there are many lost sheep and we have neither the means nor the desire to look for them, let the wolf take charge of them.”

What exemplary shepherds! They leave the lost sheep to the wolves. They get along well with them and know how to share the flock with them, so that they may feed and not suffer. According to the Bible, they would rather be hirelings, who “do not care about the sheep” (John 10:13).

Internal missions

If we are striving to make the Gospel known to those who are outside the Church, why should we not strive, first of all, to make it known to those who are inside the Church? To think that we cannot, that we do not have the means…, is to sin through lack of faith. Of course we can. If those who left the Church have the ability to visit and announce “their” Gospel to all those who remained within the Church, why are we not going to try to evangelize our brothers and sisters in the faith?

When we make home visits, many people, on seeing us, are glad and tell us: “How good that you too are showing concern for us! We are tired of receiving visits only from people who belong to other religious groups and try to tear away our faith.”

So we can and must do something to face seriously the problem of those who have drifted away. We have to be “apostolically more aggressive,” go on the offensive, not remain seated watching as so many of our brothers and sisters are snatched away by the ravenous wolf or remain excluded from the banquet to which they are called by their baptism.

Missionary parishes and dioceses

It is necessary that every parish and every diocese have its own missionaries, dedicated to “fishing” (Mark 1:17), periodically approaching all those who have drifted away in order to know their situation and undertake, case by case, a path of drawing closer to God and to the Church.

It is time to wake up. It is time to organize ourselves to seek the lost sheep, not being content to wait for it. It is time to try a new way of being Church: a Church more in solidarity in every respect, not only in the material and cultural aspect. Mission must rise again. Either that, or we sink. New air, or death by suffocation.

Author: Fr. Flaviano Amatulli Valente