Irish govm't to make it criminal offense for a priest not to report sex offender confessions

Catholic Herald ^ | June 15, 2012 | WILLIAM ODDIE

[Iscool]

The seal of the confessional was a man made rule. And sometimes man has to use common sense. What the hell do you think God gave you a brain for??

So a Catholic rapes four children and kills two of them...Goes to confession...Tells the priest he's sorry and won't do it again...

Priest tells him he is forgiven and to go and sin no more...

Now the guy has been forgiven by God and has a clean conscience...Til the next time anyway...

[E. Pluribus Unum]

If you can’t make an intellectual argument, pound sand..

That's your specialty.

[Tublecane]

This whole argument is idiotic. If the confessional seal is broken sex offenders won’t confess anymore, and if they did it would be hearsay and unadmissable. The state is puffing out its chest to look like a big man and probably knows this is all a PR show.

[Tublecane]

“So a Catholic rapes four children and kills two of them...Goes to confession...Tells the priest he’s sorry and won’t do it again...

Priest tells him he is forgiven and to go and sin no more”

Uh, what? Have you ever heard of a little thing called atonement? I don’t imagine there’s a priest in the world who would ask nothing more of a rapist murderer than to confess.

It’s one thing to go after the idea of forgiveness. Religion can certainly be exploited cynically. Some people even figure they can be good Catholics and do whatever the hell they want so long as they don’t die unexpectedly and get the last rites. But make sense in you attack, at least. Gross parodies have to have some level of credibility.

[Iscool]

Uh, what? Have you ever heard of a little thing called atonement? I don’t imagine there’s a priest in the world who would ask nothing more of a rapist murderer than to confess.

OK...Give an example...What would a priest require for an atonement in such a situation???

[DPMD]

The most likely result is that politicians and teachers will stop going to confession.

[Salman]

I want all governments out of all religious affairs.

Covering up sex crimes is a religious affair? Well then your religion is a criminal conspiracy.

[Tublecane]

“OK...Give an example...What would a priest require for an atonement in such a situation???”

Turning themselves in to the police, of course.

[Campion]

Priests should be obligated to report this info. Its criminal not to.

Then the practice of the Catholic religion is criminal, because this is a non-negotiable for us.

And a country whose government can declare our religion "criminal," shut it down, and throw our ministers in prison can do exactly the same thing to your religion.

That's why we have a first amendment, or at least, we used to.

[NYer]

In 5th grade, in Sister Saint Catherine’s class, she warned us this would happen within our lifetime.

Sounds like her 'prophecy' was made post VCII. Do you recall the year?

[Campion]

So a fundamentalist rapes four children and kills two of them...confesses his sins to God...Tells God he's sorry and won't do it again...

What's the difference, Iscool? The state can't force God to testify at the point of a gun?

Incidentally, the law in this country protects the confidentiality of discussions with all ministers of religion, not just Catholic priests.

Also incidentally, a priest is typically not going to let someone who confesses a heinous crime off the hook just for saying he's sorry. There's this little matter of penance, which may well involve a visit to the police station in addition to 5 Hail Marys.

[Campion]

Covering up sex crimes is a religious affair? Well then your religion is a criminal conspiracy.

The law protects discussions with clergymen and lawyers. Attorney-client privilege doesn't turn defense attorneys into co-conspirators, doesn't turn the practice of criminal law into a "criminal conspiracy," and defense attorneys aren't required to tattle to the DA every time they discover something that might be interesting to the prosecution. In fact, a defense attorney who did that would be incompetent.

Although some FReepers can't seem to grasp the fact, even accused child molesters have the same legal rights as anyone else accused of a crime.

And freedom of religion applies to everyone ... that is, if you expect to keep it.

[NYer]

The most likely result is that politicians and teachers will stop going to confession.

A few years ago, our pastor was doing sick calls at a local catholic hospital. One of the individuals he visited was a retired Democrat politician whose son had followed in his footsteps and was well respected. The senior politician had just been delivered a death notice by his medical team. During his pastoral visit, this individual asked the priest to hear his confession.

The priest, ever conscious of the seal of confession, used the situation as an example to uphold the right to life position to his congregation at a Sunday liturgy. While no name was mentioned, it was fairly easy to figure out who had made the confession. The priest did not expound on how he administered the sacrament, he encouraged his parishioners to be pro-active in support of life.

These politicians and teachers have consciences but place politics before faith. Those fortunate enough to reach the point of the above-cited politico, use their final days to draw the 'repentance' card, much like Ted Kennedy. Ultimately, they will stand before God and be judged, like all of us.

[MrEdd]

Moral absolutes and homosexual agenda ping.

There is a huge hotbed of pedophile defenders on this thread, defending practitioners of the perversion as if opposing pedophelia was an attack on catholicism. Even when the defenders of children are themselves Catholic.

[RichInOC]

Ah, the government. The only folks who would tell people, in effect, “I’m going to order you to do something that’ll get you fired” and not expect to be laughed at.