Posted on 11/28/2017 6:32:09 PM PST by marshmallow
An Inquiry into child sex abuse heard that priests should be forced to reveal Confessions in such cases
British priests should be compelled to break the Seal of the Confessional in cases of child abuse, lawyers have told a national inquiry.
Solicitor David Enright, representing former pupils at a Comboni missionary school, said it was a problem that “matters revealed in Confession, including child abuse, cannot be used in governance”.
Richard Scorer, another lawyer representing victims, called for a “mandatory reporting law”, asking: “Why has the temptation to cover up abuse been particularly acute in organisations forming part of the Roman Catholic Church?”
The lawyers were speaking at the opening of a three-week hearing into abuse at English Benedictine schools.
Their recommendations echo a suggestion heard in August by Australia’s royal commission on child abuse, which prompted Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne to say he would go to jail rather than violate the Seal.
The Catechism says the seal of Confession is “inviolable” and any priest who violates it incurs automatic excommunication.
“One can’t think of a more serious obstacle embedded in the law of the Catholic Church to achieving child protection.”
He added: “The Catholic Church is so opaque, so disparate, so full of separate bodies who are not subject to any authority that it is difficult to see how reform can be made to provide good governance and introduce acceptable standards of child protection.”
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicherald.co.uk ...
I think Solicitor David Enright is missing something here. Maybe a couple of things.
No.
Except for conservatives, who are to be exempt from accusation.
Ain’t gonna happen. Period Dot. The priests will go to jail or be put to death first.
This has been tried before. It is tyrannical governments that find the Great Seal onerous.
Revealing what is heard in Confession is one of the “Sins against the Holy Spirit’ that Jesus Christ spoke of in Luke 12.
In addition to being a violation of the religious freedom of Catholics, such a move would be self-defeating. If penitents knew that their confessions of abuse would be reported, they would simply not go to confession. The end result would be that the truly penitent would be deprived of the sacrament while there would be no new confessions of abuse to report to the police.
| 1467 Given the delicacy and greatness of this ministry and the respect due to persons, the Church declares that every priest who hears confessions is bound under very severe penalties to keep absolute secrecy regarding the sins that his penitents have confessed to him. He can make no use of knowledge that confession gives him about penitents' lives. This secret, which admits of no exceptions, is called the "sacramental seal," because what the penitent has made known to the priest remains "sealed" by the sacrament. |
“Why has the temptation to cover up abuse been particularly acute in organisations forming part of the Roman Catholic Church?”
It hasn’t. Look it up.
Or just go to a behind-screen confessional in a parish where their voice isn't known.
I personally believe that anyone who penetrates a child under the age of puberty should receive the death penalty. However, the seal of the confessional should not be broken. The state may not dictate the terms of the Christian religion that predated the state and formed its culture and history — in England’s case, by more than 1,000 years.
There is nothing in the bible about a middleman acting as an intermediary for the flock. There is also nothing about confessions being the province of these nonbiblical intermediaries. It’s time to end this charade. The catechism says it’s inviolable?! Who cares what it says. What does the Bible say? Nothing, that’s what it says. It’s time for priests to cooperate with the law. They are not above the law.
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. [Jesus] said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20:19-23)One should really read the Bible before making comments.
The Roman Catholic Church was born and lived 300 years under persecution. We will not see a return to the True Faith abandoned since 1965 until the persecution returns. Bring it.
The only other time God breathed on Man was when He created Adam.
The great sacrament of Confession restores men’s souls to life, which were dead in sin. It is a tremendous gift that Jesus gave to us. It is a sin against the Holy Spirit to reveal what is spoken between the penitent and the priest who is acting in the person of Jesus Christ (Alter Christus).
For those caught in the poverties of the “traditions of men”, the riches of the Sacraments are not comprehensible. The sad legacy of Martin Luther continues unabated.
>>It’s time for priests to cooperate with the law. They are not above the law.
What the hell are you doing on this forum?
Will you be bringing the rubber hoses to your local church now?
Will the priest be subpoenaed to testify in those cases?
What about theft? Will the prosecutors demand those confessions be made admissible?
No, you say? Think again. Once one demand is met, others come. Think of homosexual unions. Wasn't it about civil law and rights? Now it is a demand for sacramental marriage and acceptance of the unacceptable.
When I was 10 years old my mother forced me to go to this catholic church where a child molester jammed a cracker and some wine down my throat while babbling a bunch of nonsense in an extinct language. According to every catholic I've revealed this to, this makes me a catholic for life. So I'm just complaining about "my" church and pushing for reform.
You have a substantial penchant for drama. I recommend forgiveness.
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