Australian Law Demands Priests Break Seal of Confession

Church Militant ^ | 2/18/20 | Bradley Eli

[marshmallow]

Clerics must choose between prison or excommunication

MELBOURNE, Victoria, Australia (ChurchMilitant.com) - Priests in the Australian state of Victoria must now choose between being jailed for keeping the seal of confession or being excommunicated for breaking it.

A state law took effect on Monday that forces priests in the state to report knowledge of child sexual abuse gained from the sacrament of confession or face up to three years in prison. Victoria's Attorney-General Jill Hennessy asserts that priests can no longer use the confessional seal as a reason for not reporting child abuse.

"From [Monday], our promise to put the safety of children ahead of the secrecy of the confession is in full effect and there is no excuse for people who fail to report abuse," remarked Hennessy.

Any Catholic priest revealing confessional matter for any reason, however, is automatically excommunicated as per Catholic Church law.

The law, titled the Children Legislation Amendment Act of 2019 (CLAA), was passed in September but only came into force this week. The CLAA states its main goals are "to include persons in religious ministry as mandatory reporters" and to clarify that any "mandatory reporter is not able to rely on the religious confession privilege" to avoid reporting child sexual abuse.

[Captain Peter Blood]

Once they force priests to break that they will want any and all information from them. So in the long run people will no longer confess.

[AlaskaErik]

Once they force priests to break that they will want any and all information from them. So in the long run people will no longer confess.

There is nothing biblical about confession. Cut out the middleman and confess to your God directly. Protestants have been doing it successfully for centuries now.

[Fungi]

Bingo!!! And well said.

[BipolarBob]

When a person testifies in court, are they required to take an oath for honesty and truth? So, if the court recognizes the importance of an oath, they should be aware a priest has already taken an oath to not divulge confessions. Else the court is a hypocrite. Let the priest say whatever he thinks prudent or remain silent.

[jarwulf]

There is nothing christian or logical about supporting this law whether or not you believe in confession. All it will do is stop people from confessing.

[Prince of Space]

Now let’s demand that Protestants give up using the King James version of the Bible. Makes sense to me so just forget about your 400 years of tradition.

[BipolarBob]

Hold on there A-Erik. You're solving a conundrum here in Solomon style wisdom and that won't do. Nosirreee. Catholics have tradition. Bible precedent - not so much. Not on Pope Benedicts Berglios watch.

[NurdlyPeon]

And if said child molester confesses to his lawyer, is the lawyer then required to inform the court? Get back to me when he is.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

What happens in the case of a traditional closed confession where the priest doesn't see the person confessing?

If the priest were forced to report, would the entire congregation be forced to state whether or not they were the one who made the confession?

[BipolarBob]

Now let’s demand that Protestants give up using the King James version of the Bible. Makes sense to me so just forget about your 400 years of tradition.

Hold on there. If the King James Bible was good enough for Moses and Jesus and the Disciples it's good enough for me.

[ebb tide]

There is nothing biblical about confession.

[23] Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. John Chapter 20.

[CondorFlight]

“And if said child molester confesses to his lawyer, is the lawyer then required to inform the court? Get back to me when he is.”

Excellent answer!

[Lurker]

There is nothing christian or logical about knowingly concealing crimes against children from law enforcement.

Nothing.

L

[Lurker]

“And if said child molester confesses to his lawyer, is the lawyer then required to inform the court?”

Yes, he or she is.

L

[SkyDancer]

I’m not Catholic but that’s not right. What’s next? Lawyer, doctor?

[Reno89519]

If a priest knows a crime (rape and murder, for example), they should report it. Else, they may claim religion, but it is blood on their hands.

[Prince of Space]

My point was since ppl of different religions on this site apparently can dictate what another religion should or should not allow, I’m throwing my demand into the arena. Otherwise I’d just keep my mouth shut because it doesn’t pertain to me, like you should’ve done, but I guess the standard has changed around here.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

What they didn’t know is that there are a lot of priests more than willing to be persecuted, or even martyred for their faith.

Right now, this is just begging for a test case. Will the prosecution try to exclude Catholics from the jury? No matter how they do it, the government will end up with egg on their face.

Conversely, so child abuser who knows he is soon to be arrested might go out of his way to offer confessions to many priests. Will they prosecute a half dozen priests who refuse to cooperate?

[Gay State Conservative]

"Officer...I don't have the first clue whose confessions I hear.Do some research and you'll understand how it works.I can't see the person and I don't recognize voices."

"I'm very sorry that I can't help you with your inquiries."