Sure, he’s not supposed to tell, but if telling the authorities the location of little Madeline’s body so she could have a decent burial would be the right thing to do.
You’re assuming they confessed to him honestly. If they killed their daughter and are hiding it, I would doubt that they confessed honestly. A priest can only absolve an honestly confessed sin; God (working through the priest) cannot absolve something that someone has either intentionally not confessed or lied about.
If they had confessed honestly and had had something to do with the child’s disappearance, the priest would have told them as a condition of their penance that they would have to go to the authorities and confess and reveal what they knew. If they were serious Catholics, they would have done it. But the whole question is why they went to this priest in the first place. Was he part of their “proclamation of innocence”? If he was, I don’t blame him for feeling used and destroyed. Maybe they are innocent, maybe not. But they have used and abused many folks in Portugal in one way or another during this whole affair.
***Sure, he’s not supposed to tell, but if telling the authorities the location of little Madeline’s body so she could have a decent burial would be the right thing to do.***
The confidentiality of the confession is somewhat difficult to understand, but think of this: If a priest were to break his vow of silence in ANY way, no one would feel safe in going to confession. And that means the police would not have any reason to question the priest. So no one would be any further ahead.
I’m praying for this priest. May God give him comfort.