Posted on 10/31/2016 5:25:45 PM PDT by marshmallow
A priest has no duty to report confidential information heard during a sacramental confession, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled Friday in a bid to clear up what it called the "widespread confusion" caused by its decision two years ago in a long-running case involving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge.
The diocese had warned after the 2014 ruling that the sanctity of the confessional was under attack by the ruling the church said might force a priest to reveal in court what was privately told to him.
The case involves a young woman who claims she told a Baton Rouge-area Catholic priest that a longtime church parishioner was sexually abusing her when she was 14 but the priest did nothing to stop or report the alleged abuse.
In a 2014 ruling in the case that resuscitated Rebecca Mayeux's lawsuit against the Baton Rouge Diocese and the Rev. Jeff Bayhi, the state Supreme Court said a dispute remained "concerning whether the communications between the child and the priest were confessions per se and whether the priest obtained knowledge outside the confessional that would trigger his duty to report" sexual abuse allegations.
The Supreme Court on Friday conceded that it never "conclusively determined" whether a priest, in administering sacramental confession, is a mandatory reporter of child abuse under provisions of the Louisiana Children's Code. Such a determination would make priests subject to the mandatory duty to report under the code.
"Any communication made to a priest privately in the sacrament of confession for the purpose of confession, repentance, and absolution is a confidential communication ... and the priest is exempt from mandatory reporter status ..." the high court decreed Friday.
(Excerpt) Read more at theadvocate.com ...
Even if they repeated it, it’d just be hearsay.
The same is true for other “mandatory reporters” of child abuse. The law says that if a minor talks about abuse or if the “mandatory reporter” suspects abuse based on other information (injuries, for example), that person must inform the police and child welfare authorities.
It’s not a question of whether the report is admissible evidence in a criminal case. One of the characteristics of child welfare law is that situations rarely result in a criminal case with the rules of evidence in effect.
Yep.
5.56mm
Hearsay, exactly. I don’t see how it would be admissible in court.
Plus this supposedly happened decades ago when most Confessions were made without face-to-face contact, i.e. the penitent and the priest are separated by a screen.
What would the priest say to the police?
“A girl...I think it was a girl...no, I can’t describe her, I didn’t see her... and I don’t know her name or her age... told me such-and-such happened... no, I don’t know the date that it happened...”
I wonder if this law would apply to football coach Joe Paterno when one of his staff reported seeing another coach raping a 10 year old boy.
Paterno waited till the next day to meet with the Athletic Director, neither of which alerted the police.
That’s why you confess your sins to God
It depends on the specifics of state law. Is a college sports staff member a “mandatory reporter”? I don’t know. And does the reporting mandate transfer to a second person told by the first person?
Most mandatory reports are people who are commonly involved with minor children: teachers, doctors, youth sports personnel. College sports employees might not be covered.
But the homo friendly atmosphere constructed at Penn State played an outsized role in this abuse and isn't even being cited.
The homo crowd is even more obsessed with "young" than heterosexual perverts.
I agree.
I don't think there's any question about the moral duties involved, but that's different from the legally mandated duty, which varies by state.
Put yourself in the priest’s shoes. Someone just walked into confession and told you that he molests children. As a priest, you can’t go to the authorities.
A heard a priest say that his options are to encourage the man to seek help, to go to the police and turn himself in.
The priest does not have to give absolution right then and there. He can give some sort of conditional a solutions provided he stopped his sinful acts.
It’s a no-win situation.
Our Leftist-wing long arm of the “Law” Homeland Insecurity can just listen and watch in real-time through their illegal drone program ......like they do our posts...LOOK UP, LOCK AND LOAD FELLOW SPIED ON PATRIOTS!
Wrong. Paterno alerted the Campus Police, which were/are the police force for University Park (the campus but a real police force since it’s considered a separate entity from the town of State College). He alerted his superiors who alerted the campus/real police force, who in turn were supposed to follow through. Also, Sandusky wasn’t a Coach at the time of the supposed incident (which wasn’t a part of the case-thrown out for lack of evidence).
A new law was established in PA to deal with this after this case but nevermind...some people refuse to read the actual evidence and court transcripts and just go by what the MSM decided to report, lol, regardless of how biased and non-factual.
BTW, the assistant coach who reported the alleged rape, that was thrown out and never charged,since they couldn’t find a victim, changed his story (again).
Correct. No middle man needed. And there certainly is no biblical basis for a middle man.
Hearsay is admissible if it is an admission against interest. In other words if you admit committing a crime to a witness, then that is admissible. Another form of hearsay that is admissible is a dying declaration.
Yes, Paterno should have gone to the media directly when his reports to normal channels were being sandbagged. However, what evidence is there to indicate that the media would have done their job even then?
John 20:22-23 is all the “biblical basis” anyone should need.
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