If you wish to publicly acknowledge your symbolic defection from the Catholic Church, please sign our guestbook by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page.

39 Comments

  1. Avatar
    Helen O'Shea October 31, 2014
  2. Avatar
    hacketdave May 27, 2015

    My name is David Hackett. I am from Cork and 34 years old. I would like to publicly acknowledge my symbolic defection from the Catholic Church.

    Reply
    • Avatar
      Andrew Doyle May 28, 2015

      Hi David – thanks for this. Am getting the membership elements up and running now so you can join as a member properly (for free) and we can keep you up to date.

      Reply
      • Avatar
        David Hackett May 28, 2015

        Thanks Andrew

        Reply
  3. Avatar
    John Lane August 17, 2015

    I wish to publically acknowledge my non membership of any church whatsoever …

    Reply
  4. Avatar
    Michael Lynch August 22, 2015

    This has got to be one of the best sites on the internet.
    Spread the word and let logic and common sense prevail!

    Reply
  5. Avatar
    rose bell August 25, 2015

    Many greetings from the irish ecclesiastical conservator-connemara

    Reply
  6. Avatar
    angie clissold December 18, 2015

    officially elated.. choice = freedom.
    many many thanks to notme.ie

    Reply
  7. Avatar
    Bryan Benedetti December 30, 2015

    I do renounce any connection to the Roman Catholic Church and denounce its claims for ecclesiastical authority. I am not pleased however with Notme’s Un-baptism certificate that was produced after I registered. It does not accurately state my position, but instead inserts another worldview that is also not mine. There was no preview showing what was to be posted in my name. I therefore, also denounce Notme’s worldview as well.

    Bryan Benedetti

    Reply
    • Avatar
      Helen O'Shea December 30, 2015

      Hi Bryan, I’m an admin on this site. Would you like your name removed?

      Reply
  8. Avatar
    Eilish Burke January 28, 2016

    Although symbolic, this feels like a significant step for me.

    Proud to be able to say I’ve defected from the Catholic Church.

    Reply
  9. Avatar
    Louise Power March 22, 2016

    I was baptised as a baby in Waterford and wish to officially and legally defect from the church; this symbolic defection is better than nothing I guess.

    How is it legal for the Catholic Church not to accept defection? Is there any case against them or could there be? Has there been any recent discussions about changes to this?

    Reply
  10. Avatar
    Richie April 07, 2016

    Just looking at the defection roll… it appears many people are filling in the sections wrong e.g. instead of filling the name of the church they were baptised in they are writing ‘catholic church’ or ‘Roman Catholic Church’ and some have left joke names e.g. ‘AK47’. I think this might end up discrediting what you are doing here. Can you not go back and amend some of these or at least blank the ‘church’ and ‘parish’ sections where they have been misfilled?

    Reply
    • Avatar
      Helen O'Shea April 11, 2016

      Thanks for the feedback Richie, I will look at blanking the fields in question.

      Reply
      • Avatar
        Richard Cronin April 11, 2016

        Lovely hurling Helen!

        Reply
  11. Avatar
    ailbhe large April 11, 2016

    Hi,
    I do wish renounce any connection to the Roman Catholic Church but I don´t want to be an atheist. I wish to be free of all titles or labels. I desperately want to be renounce officially not just symbolically but I do not wish to do so by having to join another group. Can you help?
    many thanks,
    Ailbhe

    Reply
  12. Avatar
    John Verway (Pen Name- Jan Maria Reijers- Author of 'The People Whisperer') May 06, 2016

    This was posted online and expresses a fear and worry that many people may have regarding the church.

    “Like many Irish people I was baptised when I was young. I’m not particularly religious, so I would like to ‘leave’ the Catholic Church.
    For a while it looked like it was possible to leave the Roman Catholic Church, a process called ‘defection’. An Irish site Count Me Out explained the process and gave you all the required forms to fill out.
    However things have changed. The Catholic Church have changed their rules and no longer allow people to leave/defect. I filled in all the forms and sent them off. I got this letter back from them, basically saying you can’t defect anymore, but they’ll remember that I want to defect.
    I’m considering what to do next.”

    I responded as follows;
    Hi Rory,
    In response to your question, let me first point out that my view comes from carefully reading what Jesus spoke but deliberately without the attachment of ‘church’ rhetoric. As a result of this careful deliberation I wrote a book titled ‘The People Whisperer’. https://store.kobobooks.com/search…
    What I say below is based on the fact that the church uses illogical definitions that are contrary to those Jesus would have used.
    To address your situation and provide some direction for you, please consider the following;
    Did you make an agreement to join a church or did you make an agreement to follow Jesus? Think carefully on this. Let your inner spirit guide you. Was the purpose of joining ‘the church’ to seek God or was it to have fellowship with people and not to seek God?
    The most important phrase to consider here is from Matthew 18:18 where Jesus says; Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven. Matthew 5:31
    Everything we agree on here on earth is already agreed on in heaven. It occurs at the same time. There is no millisecond delay. Jesus would have said so if there was. It is another way Jesus says that heaven is here on earth and that we are all a part of God. There is much more detail in the book. The same goes from that what we let go of. There is no time gap or need for a repetition of what has already happened. It is already done when we do it on earth because heaven is here on earth and we have God within us as we make and dissolve our agreements .
    If you joined a church to seek God and or Jesus then your agreement is with God and or Jesus. You do not need the church to agree because your agreement is not with the church. (God and Jesus are one and the same. It is detailed in the book). It is not up to the ‘church to ‘release you because your agreement is with God, not the church. The church may want to claim that it is Jesus’ official representative but the church is nothing more than a false prophet. How can we know that? By its fruit. Today’s church does not do what Jesus did. The Vatican brags of its city of stored valuables and collectibles, larger than any other in the world. The church does not deliver what Jesus did centuries ago. If it did we would not need all the hospitals we have. There is much more detail in my book. If your agreement is for fellowship alone without God then you need to have the agreement of those who you had fellowship with. If that fellowship was based solely on a mutual seeking of God then your agreement is still with God if you feel that the others are not producing the fruit that Jesus did. If they are still attending Church then they are not producing the results Jesus did because the church they are attending has never produced those results.
    The only question is if you were seeking God or not.
    Let me know if you have further questions,
    Jan Maria Reijers (Pen Name)
    John Verway

    “the people whisperer” | eBook search results | Kobo

    Search results for “the people whisperer” at Kobo. Read free previews and reviews from booklovers. Shop eBooks at Kobo.

    store.kobobooks.com

    Reply
  13. Avatar
    Anne Marie Burke June 04, 2016

    I wish to publicly acknowledge my symbolic defection from the Roman Catholic Church. Anne Marie Burke

    Reply
  14. Avatar
    T.J Mynchen September 20, 2016

    I have tonight commenced separation from the Catholic Church in Australia. It was the testimony of Cardinal George Pell via telelink with the hearing into what happened in Ballarat that served as the propagator for this decision. I have consulted with this website as to the process and have sent a communication to the Archbishop in Perth of my decision.

    It has to be said that this doesn’t mean that I am an Atheist but it does mean that I am freeing myself from the ties to an organisation that is recalcitrant and abusive in it’s dealing with its members and with the wider international community.

    Reply
  15. Avatar
    John O'Sullivan January 17, 2017

    When I was a baby some bloke in a dress poured water on my head. That’s all that happened, nothing magical or mystical. The bloke in a dress had a mental disease that made him think that magic was happening but he was mad so who cares. I don’t feel the need to convince some other mad bloke in a dress to tell me that he will arrange for the magic to be dispelled because that would imply that I acknowledge there was magic there in the first place, and I don’t.

    So I just want to tell all the other people out there that were washed by a mad bloke in a dress, don’t worry about it. Babies get washed a lot during the first couple of years of their lives. Don’t get upset just because your parents or guardians decided to let a crazy man wash you once.

    Reply
  16. Avatar
    John Burton February 18, 2017

    And I, am, outa there! But on a more serious note, I am glad to be atheist not only in everyday life but also now on paper.

    Reply
    • Avatar
      John Hamill March 05, 2017

      Did you find it difficult, John? May I ask which diocese you defected from? I believe that each diocese treats request for defections and excommunications quite differently.

      Reply
  17. Avatar
    roisin Casey March 06, 2017

    Hello I have deregistered as a Catholic .When will I get a (confirmation) letter of acknowledgement..Or what happens next.

    Reply
  18. Avatar
    John Phelan July 30, 2017

    My name is john phelan I’m from Kilkenny and I would like to publicly acknowledge my symbolic defection and wish to officially and legally defect from da Catholic church

    Reply
  19. Avatar
    Geoff Archer November 08, 2017

    My name is Geoff Archer. I hereby publicly acknowledge my break from the reprehensible organization known as the Catholic church.
    I wish to officially and legally defect from the Catholic church.
    I spit upon its lies its misdeeds, and those that carry them out.

    Reply
  20. Avatar
    Nina Henderson November 14, 2017

    Hi folks, I’m Nina Henderson, aged 17 from Scotland. I refuse to respect and take part in a religion that does not respect me, and I’m angry at all the time I wasted taking part in religious observations. The only things I have left for the church is outrage, disgust and shame. This is my public acknowledgement of my symbolic defection from the church.

    I did not want this faith. Man made god, and not the other way around.

    Anyway, there was never a god, the church is a scam and religion is a tragic waste. Peace out.

    Reply
  21. Avatar
    Niamh Ennis May 08, 2018

    My name is Niamh Ennis, I am 25 and I no longer wish to be officially part of the Catholic Church. I do not come from a religious family, and I was only signed up because it was a requirement to get a place in the local primary school. I have never been to a mass, the only times I have ever been inside a church was for my own communion (which I barely remember) and some weddings/family christenings.
    I have never believed in god. I think it is appalling that there is no official system in place any more to remove yourself from this cult.

    Reply
  22. Avatar
    Eoin O'Loughlin May 29, 2018

    Non-believers should be able to formally leave

    Reply
  23. Avatar
    Martin Luther May 30, 2018

    Hi Y’all I wanna know how do i get back into the church? Or is this just for satanists and attention seekers? If you’re getting in touch with Pope will ya let him know that I wouldn’t mind getting back on board? Thanks y’all

    Reply
  24. Avatar
    Tony Fleming July 09, 2018

    I’m Tony Fleming. I am athiest and am raising my boys athiest. I refuse to be part of an orgaisation that harmed so many. Ferns, Ryan, Murphy reports. TUAM…..there have been so many atrocities by the Catholic Church I cannot comprehend how anyone can continue to support it.

    Reply
  25. Avatar
    Martina keogh August 16, 2018

    I absolutely wish that this was 100% accurate but I no longer want to be a part of the catholic church. I personally think its a cop out and they know Irish people wouldn’t baptise their children if there was a separation between church and state and the ability to get your child into school without it.

    Ireland has been manipulated and hypnotised by the church for way to long. They cannot and will not get away with the abuse, murder, cover up, treatment of women abuse on society as a whole. The church will not be a part of Ireland by the time I am 80. I look forward to this day. They have failed as a religious institution and are nothing but a cult. They have all let god down by acting the way they have in Ireland. Their judgement day will come.

    I am out.

    Reply
  26. Avatar
    sean long August 27, 2018

    im out. i can not stand the catholic church or the hate ot breeds from some of its followers

    Reply
  27. Avatar
    Marty Meany January 09, 2019

    Hey everyone! I’ve officially defected from the church. I’ve been added to a church registrar but am currently following up to leverage my data protection rights under GDPR to have my records within the church destroyed. Read my story over here https://goosed.ie/leaving-catholic-church-using-gdpr/

    Reply
  28. Avatar
    kenneth cummins May 31, 2019

    I would like to publicly declare that i a no longer associated with the Catholic church in any form

    Reply
  29. Avatar
    John Phelan August 02, 2020

    I’ve officially defected from the church

    Reply
  30. Avatar
    Nora Skehan August 24, 2020

    I wish to publicly acknowledge my symbolic defection from the Catholic Church. I had no choice in my baptism into this man-made religion. I repudiate the Christian faith.

    Reply
  31. Avatar
    James January 13, 2021

    I would like to publicly acknowledge my symbolic defection from the Catholic Church. There are many good reasons that could be given but none are better than the insitutional abuse Ireland has suffered for decades.

    P.S. I made my Confirmation for the money.

    Reply
  32. Avatar
    Una O'Connor January 27, 2022

    Hi,
    Thanks for giving me this opportunity to at least symbolically leave this rotten institution.

    The church are surely in complete violation of EU GDPR laws.
    The data protection commissioner’s “investigation” comprising of registering complaints and “asking bishops” as reported in the Times in 2020 doesn’t sound very promising. Has nothing happened since then?

    Aside from church records, it should be possible to register defection by striking the information from personal data in official (state) documents,as is the case in Germany. That is, if religion is registered on an official level (with date of birth etc).It used to be on passports, or am I mistaken?

    Reply
  33. Avatar
    Michelle Houlihan August 23, 2022

    At 30, with two small kids, I refuse to be part of an organisation that condones and covers up for thousands of pedophile priests. In reality the Catholic Church is nothing but a religious cult and a pedophile ring. It’s a toxic organisation that I want nothing to do with. The sooner the Catholic Church dues out, the better. #SPOTLIGHT

    Reply

Leave reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.