In August last year, following events related to LGBT people, the website apostazja.eu was launched to help people leave the Catholic Church, that is, commit apostasy. In recent days – probably in connection with the wave of protests against tightening abortion laws – interest in both this issue and the website itself has surged.

On Saturday in Kraków, Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski, known for his words about the “rainbow plague,” expressed his delight at the Constitutional Tribunal’s decision. He said: “It is difficult to imagine more wonderful news delivered today.”

The Metropolitan Archbishop of Kraków expressed great appreciation for, in his words, the courage and integrity of the Tribunal’s judges, as well as enormous gratitude to the initiators. “May God reward you for these noble actions!” Marek Jędraszewski said.

How can you leave the Catholic Church?

A special website provides help, offering a document template and describing the apostasy procedure. You fill in a simple form and print the document.

“We recommend our website to everyone. If you have friends who are considering apostasy, you can recommend it to them too. However, if you want to remain in the Church, please do something: talk to your priests, religious fathers and bishops. It cannot be that a bishop incites some people against others, Poles against Poles, during Mass,” the website’s authors state.

Apostasy – how to do it?

The website address is: apostazja.eu

Apostasy – procedure

The website contains all the necessary information and allows you to easily generate a correctly completed application. The document complies with current legal and Church regulations.

Apostasy – how do you do it?

Simply fill in a few fields and print the apostasy declaration.

What does the apostasy procedure look like?

Most importantly, you must be at least 18 years old. The procedure is very simple.

  • Generate a declaration of leaving the Church through our website and print two copies.
  • Take both copies to the parish priest of the parish where you live.
  • Submit one copy to the priest, and receive confirmation that the document has been accepted on your copy. That is all!

You do not receive an apostasy certificate. However, some time after submitting the apostasy document, you can request your baptism certificate again; it should then contain an annotation stating that you have left the Church.

Why do I sometimes need a baptism certificate?

If you submit the declaration in the same parish where you were baptized, you do not need a baptism certificate. If you were baptized elsewhere, you must obtain the baptism certificate beforehand. This is important because the priest makes the appropriate annotation about your apostasy in the baptismal register. If it was another parish, he must know where to send information about your decision. The appropriate entry will be made there.

Can I send the apostasy declaration by post or email, or have someone else deliver it?

No. You must submit the document in person by meeting with the parish priest.

Apostasy and burial?

Apostasy does not affect burial; there simply will not be a priest at the funeral. If a given municipality has no municipal cemetery, the burial may take place in a Church cemetery, and no one may refuse this.

Will there be any consequences?

Only Church-related ones:

  • you will not be able to administer or receive the sacraments
  • you will not be able to be a godparent, a confirmation sponsor, a witness to a marriage, etc.
  • you will be prohibited from holding offices or performing ministries and tasks in the Church
  • you will be prohibited from belonging to Church and Catholic associations, movements and organizations
  • there will be no priest at your funeral.

These are all the consequences.

Can there be a problem with the priest during the formalities?

The priest may try to persuade you to withdraw your decision and remain in the Catholic Church. According to the guidelines, he must do so with love and prudence. We have not encountered any problems. The priest may not require witnesses; this has not been obligatory since 2015. If the parish priest is unfamiliar with the current regulations, he can read them in the document: General Decree of the Polish Episcopal Conference on leaving the Church and returning to the Church community. If the parish priest refuses to accept the document, an official complaint should be submitted to the bishop; this helps.

What does Church law say about this?

The matter in question is regulated from the perspective of Church law by the General Decree of the Polish Episcopal Conference on leaving the Church and returning to the Church community.