Posted on 01/22/2015 1:27:39 PM PST by cleghornboy
Washington D.C., Jan 21, 2015 / 05:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a petition from a Louisiana Catholic diocese that fears a civil lawsuit could force a priest to violate the seal of confession or go to jail.
The Diocese of Baton Rouge and diocesan priest Father Jeff Bayhi were disappointed by the decision, which the diocese said has “significant ramifications for religious freedom in Louisiana and beyond.”
“The diocese and Fr. Bayhi will continue their efforts to protect the guarantees of religious freedom set forth in our state and federal constitutions, and are confident that those efforts will, in due course, be successful,” the diocese said in a Jan. 20 statement.
The diocese and the priest are considering “a number of options” for other constitutional challenges in the case.
The U.S. Supreme Court has let stand the Louisiana Supreme Court’s May 2014 ruling that a court hearing is necessary to determine whether state law protects a priest’s conversation during confession with a minor about an alleged sexual abuser in the parish.
(Excerpt) Read more at lasalettejourney.blogspot.com ...
Nobody ever said being a Christian was going to be easy.
Or at any rate, they lied to you if they did say it.
The evangelicals tell you that if you are following God’s W He Will “bless” you, your children, your finances, your health...
Catholics tell you if you are a really good Christian and God has favor on you, you might be blessed by becoming a martyr.
So, essentially, the Justices of the Supreme Court said, “Who are we to judge?”
Americans *used* to have a doctor-patient privilege. That is entirely gone now, what with the HIPAA and HITECH acts.
Now the government is challenging the privilege of clergy and supplicant. So the future of American liberty is now riding on the back of this Catholic priest.
Without hesitation he should go to jail, not even “consider options”, but with his diocese and the Catholic church, and other churches, he should be openly defiant.
In doing so, what he does by going to jail is more important to his faith than performing his priestly duties. But his diocese should rally every Catholic in the state to challenge this abuse by the courts. For if the state wins, the sacrament of confession in its current form is forfeit.
I agree. The sanctity and secrecy of the confessional should not be violated by goobermint.
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