LOUISIANA
The American Conservative
By ROD DREHER • July 7, 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 confessions he might have received. The alleged confessions, the petitioner claims, were made by a minor child to the priest regarding sexual abuse by another church parishioner.
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 and 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, rendered in May of this year, demands that a hearing be held in 19th Judicial District Court, where the suit originated, 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 entire statement by the Diocese of Baton Rouge can be found here.
The case involves a minor child who claims that she told her priest, Fr. Jeff Bayhi, that she was being sexually abused by a member of the parish, a man who later died while under criminal investigation. The plaintiff claims that Fr. Bayhi told her to keep quiet about it and handle the problem herself, because too many people would be hurt if she went public. This, plus the fact that he did not report the alleged abuser to police based on information received in the confessional, forms the basis of her lawsuit.
Fr. Bayhi is in an impossible position. He cannot under canon law reveal what he learned in the confessional, from anybody. The plaintiff could be making it up, but if he defends himself by disputing her testimony, or if he were to say that she was telling the truth, he would be defrocked. The seal of the confessional is absolutely sacred.
But according to the Louisiana Supreme Court’s ruling, under Louisiana law, a priest’s allegiance to confidentiality of the confessional only protects the penitent. Because the plaintiff has waived her right to confidentiality, the Court says Fr. Bayhi must testify. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of what the sacrament of confession is for the priest; he cannot, under severe ecclesial penalty, tell anyone what he learned in the confessional. Period. The end.
Unless the state Supreme Court is reversed, Fr. Bayhi will have to go to jail to protect the seal of the confessional, even if he is innocent of the accusation.
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