I apostatized not too long ago by sending a formal letter to the church. I wish I'd known it could be done online.

Cyberspace is one of the few places lapsed Catholics can get a copy of the formal letter called "actus defectionis" that is required by Church
officials to leave the faith.

Why would a Catholic care what's required by Church officials to leave the faith?

Why would a Catholic care what's required by Church officials to leave the faith?

It's about the numbers. As long as a person doesn't officially separate from the church, he/she is still considered by the church to be a Catholic. There is an inflated number of Catholics in the world because most people don't officially leave the faith. The church uses this to boast how numerous they are; however, if everyone who left the church did it officially, I think the numbers would be significantly less.

It's not just leaving the faith. It's protesting against the church.

Interesting. Makes one assume there's a Master List of some sort, though how names would be added to it is a real question...

Leaving an apostate organization is not apostasy. The church left God a long time ago.

Indeed Shandooga. I ditched the church, but not God, years ago.

Makes one assume there's a Master List of some sort, though how names would be added to it is a real question...

i'm not sure how true this is anywhere else, but in Germany all residents (Germans and foreign nationals alike) are required to register, citing (among others) their name, place of residence...and faith. Christians have to pay "church tax" regularly.
this, for one, is a good indication of how some names are added to the list.