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    January 18, 2012

Voluntary 'De-Baptism' Rising in Europe

   Lisa Bryant | Paris
   Pope Benedict XVI baptizes one of 21 newborns during in the Sistine
   Chapel, the Vatican, Jan. 9, 2011 (file photo).
   Photo: Reuters
   Pope Benedict XVI baptizes one of 21 newborns during in the Sistine
   Chapel, the Vatican, Jan. 9, 2011 (file photo).

   Sunday evening youth mass in Saint-Germain-des-Pres is overflowing with
   parishioners. People stand in aisles or sit cross-legged in corners of
   the cavernous, sixth century Paris church.
   Father Benoist de Sinety, parish priest at Saint Germain for the past
   three years, says he has always had the good fortune of seeing crowds
   of young people seeking their bearings or rediscovering faith. But he
   knows it is not the same everywhere.
   Churches in France and elsewhere in Europe have been battling falling
   numbers, a trend evident not only in the empty pews, but in the sharp
   fall in baptisms. But "de-baptisms", a church's deletion of one's name
   from the official baptismal registry at a parishioner's request, are a
   recent phenomenon, and they are taking place in both Protestant and
   Catholic communities.
   There are no official statistics, but experts and activists count the
   numbers of those seeking de-baptism in the tens of thousands, and
   websites offering informal "de-baptism" certificates have mushroomed.
   Anne Morelli, who heads a center for religion and secularity studies at
   the Free University of Brussels, says de-baptisms, both official and
   unofficial, increased in 2011, particularly in the Netherlands,
   Germany, Belgium and Austria. The numbers, she said, reflect public
   anger at the church pedophilia scandals.
   Terry Sanderson, head of the National Secular Society in Britain,
   agrees. "I think what sparked the real desire of people to leave the
   church, particularly the Catholic church, were the huge child-abuse
   scandals that revolted so many people [that] they no longer wanted to
   be associated with it," he said. "That's when people started to leave
   in large numbers."
   A decade ago, Sanderson's society posted an unofficial "de-baptism
   certificate" on its website, which has been downloaded more than
   100,000 times to date.
   "It was a joke to begin with, but now it has taken on a new
   significance because there are so many people who are anxious to leave
   the church that they are actually taking it seriously now, and they
   want some way to make their break with the church formal," he says.
   "Often the church won't acknowledge their desire to leave."
   But Christian Weisner, a spokesman for the international grassroots We
   Are Church movement, points not only to a range of issues that have
   resulted in de-baptism, but a range methods by which people choose to
   sever ties to the church.
   In Germany, where a record 181,000 Catholics formally split from the
   church in 2011, some terminated their relations by legally opting out
   of paying state church taxes. For the first time, he says, more German
   Catholics cut ties to their church last year than Protestants.
   "They are thinking about leaving the church and there might be one
   special event, like the pedophilia crisis, like a [conservative]
   announcement by the pope, and then they decide now is the time to go,"
   says Weisner, referring to the fact that some Catholics oppose Pope
   Benedict's stances on issues like abortion, homosexuality and married
   priests.
   In France, 71-year-old Rene Lebouvier decided it was time to go a
   decade ago. After requesting to have his name crossed off his church's
   baptismal registry, he ultimately filed a lawsuit to have it legally
   deleted. In October, a lower court in Normandy ruled in his favor, but
   a local bishop is appealing the verdict.
   According to religion professor Philippe Portier of the National Center
   for Scientific Research in Paris, Lebouvier's case could set a legal
   precedent in a country where few seek to be de-baptized.
   "It will be the first time in Europe, and especially in France, that
   the church will be obliged to delete from its registers the name of
   churchgoers who do not want to be considered as church goers," he says.
   While Portier doubts the appeals court will rule in Lebouvier's favor,
   France's Catholic Church will not comment on the court case.
   Bernard Podvin, spokesman for the French Bishops Confederation, says
   the church views de-baptisms with vigilance and willingness for
   dialogue, but that the phenomenon should not be exaggerated.
   Church figures indicate that numbers of baptisms are plummeting, with
   only about one in three French children baptized compared to 90 percent
   half a century ago.
   Portier says the church has been proactive in addressing the issue,
   putting in place a new evangelizing strategy to encourage families to
   baptize their children.
   At Saint-Germain-des-Pres, the effort appears to be working. The church
   offers many activities, from ski outings to professional support
   networks, in order to draw in young Catholics.
   Aware of dwindling baptisms, Father Benoist says there may be fewer
   Christians today, but those who remain also understand their mission
   more strongly -- to be of service to man and God and to love.