Editing Lapsed Catholic (section)

== History ==

In the time of the [[persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire]], many Christians, including clergy and even some bishops, were referred to as the ''[[lapsi (Christianity)|lapsi]]'' (those who had slipped and fallen) as opposed to the ''stantes'' (those who stood firm).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EZc5Hj0fPPYC&pg=PA248 Carl Sommer, ''We Look for a Kingdom''] (Ignatius Press 2007 {{ISBN|978-1-58617079-0}}), p. 248</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6UTfmw_zStsC&pg=PA389 Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 1, Origins to Constantine]  Frances Margaret Young, Margaret Mary Mitchell, K. Scott Bowie (editors), ''The Cambridge History of Christianity''] (Cambridge University Press 2006 {{ISBN|978-0-52181239-9}}), p. 389</ref> Different attitudes developed within the Church towards the lapsed: some held they should never be readmitted to the Church before death, others were for demanding serious penance of them before readmitting them, while others again were still more lenient.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=3kVSstTNv4EC&pg=PA62 James B. North, Don Umphrey, ''A History of the Church''] (College Press 1991 {{ISBN|978-0-89900371-9}}), pp. 62-63</ref> The [[First Council of Nicaea]] insisted that any clergy who had lapsed were not to be readmitted to clerical rank.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=af-TVfQPbSgC&q=%22lapsed+are+to+be+deposed%22&pg=RA1-PR10|title=NPNF2-14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils|publisher=CCEL|via=Google Books|isbn=9781610250757}}</ref>

From 1983, a [[formal act of defection from the Catholic Church]] was recognised in the [[1983 Code of Canon Law|1983 ''Code of Canon Law'']], making defectors ineligible for the privileges of membership of the church, such as marrying in church.<ref name=Dublin>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dublindiocese.ie/content/121010-statement-formal-defections|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120221004222/http://www.dublindiocese.ie/content/121010-statement-formal-defections|url-status=dead|title=Statement on Formal Defections|archivedate=21 February 2012}}</ref> This form of defection was removed from the Code in 2009.

In the religion question on the Republic of Ireland census, "lapsed (Roman) Catholic" (a write-in option rather than a pre-printed checkbox option) was collated separately for the first time in 2011, when 1,268 were recorded (0.033% of the "Roman Catholic" total); the 2016 census recorded 8,094 (0.21%).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cso.ie/px/pxeirestat/Statire/SelectVarVal/Define.asp?maintable=EY038&PLanguage=0|title=EY038: Population Usually Resident and Present in the State 2011 to 2016 by Nationality, Sex, Religion and Census Year|work=StatBank|publisher=[[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|Central Statistics Office]]|access-date=18 August 2017|archive-date=16 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616035553/http://www.cso.ie/px/pxeirestat/Statire/SelectVarVal/Define.asp?maintable=EY038&PLanguage=0|url-status=live}}</ref>