[G Larry]

Yep, because only the “gotcha cops” are going to enter a confessional to confess a fake crime to trap a Priest.

[jmaroneps37]

God bless them! Stand tall men!

[Gay State Conservative]

Although I’m no expert in such matters it seems reasonable to me that a priest would insist that a person (let’s say “man”) who confesses to having sexually abused somebody report the incident to the police for full absolution.But to *require* a priest to report such things to the police...no way!

[buwaya]

Going to jail in this cause is a good idea.
- It is a sort of martyrdom.
- It is a public witness to faith
- It is a unique way to be a missionary in the sort of place that could especially benefit.

[Gay State Conservative]

Something just occurred to me: given this development I could see Australian priests adopting a policy of requiring a penitent to simply say “I violated the 6th Commandment” without going into detail.That way the police would be out of luck unless the law required them to report *all* violations of that Commandment.Also,the fact that priests can't typically be sure exactly whose confession they're hearing also makes reporting and criminal prosecution impossible.

[Slyfox]

I would really like to know how many people involved with child sex ever go to confession.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Catholic priests abused children and Catholic leadership covered it up - worldwide.

They brought this on themselves.

Catholic Church sex abuse cases by country

And the full extent of their crimes is unknown even today.

[scouter]

It’s absolutely clear that a priest cannot, under any circumstances whatsoever, no matter the consequences to himself, others, or even the whole world, reveal anything, in any manner, sinful or not, told to him in confession. What’s more, if anyone overhears another person’s confession, they, too, have the exact same obligation not to reveal it.

What may be more likely than a person who is abusing someone confessing it, is that a person reveals to a priest that they, themselves, were sexually abused by someone else. Even then, the priest may not reveal it to anyone. Even if it is a child’s parent who is committing the abuse.

But what they can do is say to the penitent “you know, because you’re telling me this in confession, I can’t do anything about it to help you. But after I give you absolution, your confession will be over, and if you tell me this again, then I’ll be able to get you the help you need. So if you want, just stay here in the confessional a little longer and tell me again, and I’ll do everything in my power to protect you.”

[Iscool]

The big question (to me) is: does the confession to a priest result in the guilty person being absolved of the sin if he is repentant, and being placed back in the good graces of the church???

[Oratam]

SS. John Fisher and Thomas More pray for us.