LOUISIANA
The Times-Picayune
By Emily Lane, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on July 07, 2014
The Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge has issued a statement decrying a decision by the Louisiana Supreme Court that could compel a local priest to testify in court about a confession he might have received.
The statement, published Monday (July 7) on the diocese’s website, said forcing such testimony “attacks the seal of confession,” a sacrament that “cuts to the core of the Catholic faith.”
The statement refers to a lawsuit naming the Rev. Jeff Bayhi and the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge as defendants, which compels Bayhi to testify whether or not there were confessions “and, if so, what the contents of any such confessions were.”
“A foundational doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church for thousands of years mandates that the seal of confession is absolutely and inviolable,” the statement says. “The position of the Diocese of Baton Rouge and Fr. Bayhi is that the Supreme Court of Louisiana has run afoul of the constitutional rights of both the Church and the priest, more particularly, has violated the Establishment Clause and the separate of Church and State under the first amendment.”
The state’s high court decision demands that a hearing be held in District Court to determine whether or not a confession was made. It reverses an earlier decision by the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss the original lawsuit filed against Bayhi and the diocese.
The testimony the lawsuit seeks to force is apparently related to sexual abuse or neglect of minors, as the diocese’s statement acknowledges “two conflicting statues of the State of Louisiana area involved regarding mandatory reporting of knowledge,” concerning those issues.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.