Thursday, October 04, 2012

‘De-baptisms’ follow Martin case

Flemish Catholics upset by the convent refuge provided for the wife of a notorious Belgian child murderer have revived interest in "debaptism", or having their departure from the Church formally recorded in baptismal registers.

No figures are available yet for 2012 but church officials say this form of protest is on the rise again in reaction to the welcome the Poor Clare sisters gave to Michelle Martin, who was granted conditional release from prison last month after serving 16 years of her 30-year sentence.

A website called Ontdopen.be ("debaptism.be") reported a spike in users downloading its forms to request debaptism after Martin was released amid repeated protests against her convent refuge.