Apostasy In Europe's #2 Religious Country

I've never been a religious person nor an active member of The Roman Catholic Church. Recent changes in Polish law against human rights were strongly supported by Church's officials and community and reminded me it's high time we officially part ways. It looks like I am not alone, this report from 2018 states young Poles are less religious. In the age group 45-54, 10,3% of people declared themselves as deeply religious, while in the age group 16-24 only 4,8% did. I can't wait for a refreshed report to see how the legislative changes impacted countries' beliefs.

18.09.2021: Obtaining a baptism certificate

The process of apostasy, though made easier in 2016, requires 3 in-person appointments. It cannot be simply done online. First and third step require you to go to the parish of your christening, making it highly inconvenient. First I needed to obtain a baptism certificate. I called to ask how to get it and was told to come to the church office. It's open for an hour and a half on Fridays and Saturdays, which made it tricky, but I managed to fit it into my schedule. When I got there, I asked the priest for the certificate. Why do you need it, he asked. For apostasy, I replied truthfully. My hope was I won't be asked about the reasoning, since he's not required to ask by law. My worry was it might impede the process, and was I right - he asked me the following questions:

After those questions, the reverend declared he'd like to tell me "what he believes in" and proceeded to tell a touching story about his relationship with his father and how he projected it in his relationship with God. I did not ask for it, the whole story was long and made me feel quite uncomfortable. Despite, I listened to the very end with patience. Once he finished I felt relief, since it felt like the end of our conversation. It took him only a minute to fill out the certificate form, stamp and sign it. I really thought that's it, but then, out of nowhere he said:

I clearly felt he's trying to provoke me, so instead I grabbed the certificate, wished him a nice day and left. Certainly, I wouldn't describe him as respectful, feeding my drive to partway.

21-22.09.2021: Statement of apostasy

The second step is filing a motion in person, stating one's disbelieve in God and a will to leave Church, in a parish that's assigned to one's place of registered residence. In the office, I explained to the parish priest what are my intentions and handed in 3 copies of the statement. He asked me a few questions as well. They were mostly fine only the following two struck me:

After the conversation, the priest told me he's fulfilling the duties of a parish priest for 3 months and he doesn't know the procedure. I explained it to him, but he insisted to meet tomorrow and until then he'll learn about the process. The church is not close to the place where I live, and getting there during rush hours takes a while, thus I insisted on him taking the papers today. Eventually, I gave up and agreed.

The next day, I turned up 6 minutes late, because of the traffic. When I arrived the office was closed – no one waited or at least called me. Fortunately, after calling few times, I managed to catch the priest. He welcomed me with "I was hoping you'd thought better of it" as we were entering. He explained the process to me, not that I asked - it was exactly like I told him yesterday, and then proceeded to ask me countless times if I am sure. Eventually, he concluded with "It's a pity that it has to happen during my term of office" and signed the confirmation of receiving the statements. Before a final goodbye, the priest managed to snuck in "I wish you a lot of luck and coming back to Church". I ignored yet another disrespectful provocation, wished him a nice day and left.

17.09.2022: Confirmation of apostasy

It's been a while! On this Saturday, I decided to eventually finish the whole process and force myself to pick up baptism certificate only this time with annotation about apostasy, confirming all necessary things happened internally in Church.

I described my case in the church's office and ask for new certificate. To my surprise the priest (from step 1) said it's not possible due to GDPR and I should ask my local higher instance of church for such paper. I remembered having explicitly stated in my motion that I do want the information to be forgotten, except for one allowing me to obtain such confirmation, so I calmly explained he's wrong.

He tried to question my knowledge and poked around with "not everything you find on internet is true". I insisted he's wrong and for him to give me the paper. I said that if he's absolutely certain I cannot get it from him and need to ask somebody else, I'd like to get that in writing from him - a classic case of, thanks for letting me know, but can you send me an email as well. Then he decided to call his more experienced friend, who told him that the process should look exactly as I described it.

The priest then proceeded to fill out the paper and opened a book with all baptisms that took place in this church. He copied two lines from there to paper and handed it to me. Of course as I was leaving he couldn't stop himself from saying he hopes "I'll come back to church" and "invite the Jesus back to my life". As always I replied "Have a nice day" and that's it. The whole meeting took way too long and would be much shorter if only he knew what he's supposed to be doing.

Conclusion

Overall, the experience was unpleasant and frustrating, but I am so glad I pushed through it. Still it wasn't anywhere near as bad as some internet stories. I know a lot of people who do not agree with the Church's values and way of life yet don't decide to go through apostasy, because it's too much of a hustle.

If you do decide to do it, apostazja.info is a proven resource, that'll guide you through it. Not only will you find a template and step-by-step explanation, but also guidance on how to conduct and engage in tough conversations that may arise.

twitter logoDo you find this article insightful? Let others know!