For Roman Catholic priests, the confidentiality of anything that they learn from penitents during the course of confession is absolute. This strict confidentiality is known as the Seal of the Confessional.
According to Roman Catholic Canon Law 983 §1:
The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.
Priests may not reveal what they had learned during confession to anyone, even under the threat of their own death or that of others. (This is unique to the Seal of the Confessional. Many other forms of confidentiality, including – in most states – attorney-client privilege, allow ethical breaches of the confidence to save the life of another.) For a priest to break confidentiality would lead to an latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication reserved to the Holy See (Code of Canon Law, 1388 §1).
In a criminal matter, a priest may encourage or require the penitent to surrender to authorities and may withhold absolution if the penitent refuses to do so. However, this is the extent of the leverage they wield;they may not directly or indirectly disclose the matter to civil authorities themselves.
There are limited cases where portions of a confession may be revealed to others, but always with the penitent's permission and always without actually revealing the penitent's identity. This is the case, for example, with more serious offenses, as some excommunicable offenses are reserved to the bishop or even to the Holy See, and their permission to grant absolution must be obtained.
Civil authorities in the United States are usually respectful of this confidentiality. However, several years ago an ambitious attorney in Oregon secretly recorded a confession without the knowledge of the priest or the penitent involved. This lead to official protests by the local Archbishop and the Vatican. The tape has since been sealed, and the Federal Court has since ruled that the taping was in violation of the 4th Amendment, and ordered an injunction against any further tapings.
In other words, the Church will submit itself to the state, not God.
The "confessional" part of it will go over like a lead balloon at the Supreme Court.
We have the confessional privilege for a reason. Circumventing it is a bad idea.
Wouldn't be the first time.
The State is NOT God. Deal with it.
It wil be interesting to see what is left of New Hampshire once this chases the adherent Catholics out. Do these nit wits think the Church would stand for this? Who would go to confession with "yeah but" strings on them?
I was a child victim of sexual abuse. Children are smarter and better at sorting out their own survival than we ever give them credit for.
If a child goes to a priest they've gone under the umbrage of the sanctity of the confessional. If they wanted criminal justice they would seek out a cop.
Yep-just because the state dictates it the priesthood doesn't have to do it. Interesting story- there was a case about 30 years ago in my hometown where someone was murdered and people thought that the one man they really think pulled the trigger convinced his partner in the crime, a minor, to take the blame for it thinking that he would not get a harsh sentence due to his age. Well, the jury sent him to jail for life and there wasn't enough evidence to get the other man so he got off scot free. Well the free man shortly thereafter went to confession and less than a year later the priest's hair had turned completely white. I think there can be quite a burden to keeping that vow, but kept it must be.
Ahhh. Thank you for posting about the latest assault on the Catholic churches.
I'm curious as to what the legislator proposing this is actually trying to accomplish. If the law is passed, no priest who wants to remain a priest is going to obey it. In addition, I would think it likely that anyone who commits an act of child abuse would be careful to refrain from discussing it. So the net practical result of the law will be, well, zero. And that's assuming that the law will pass constitutional muster, which I doubt.
However, there *is* of course the cheap shot to be scored by attacking Catholics and the sanctity of the confessional.
So who is sponsoring this bill in the NH legislature, and where can I contribute to his or her opponent?
bttt
As a fallen Catholic, I have only one thing to say about this, and that is that the Bible says to "Obey the laws of the land," and to "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's." Therefore, if Caesar wants to know when a child molester confesses, if it is the law of the land, the priest has to go along with it.
Then we should also remove the spousal and attorney's exemptions, perhaps for other crimes as well as this.