AUSTRALIA
7 News
ABC
The Anglican Church in Adelaide has backed an earlier move by the church nationally to let its priests break the confidentiality of confessions.
Earlier this year, the national synod met in Adelaide and voted for an historic change to let priests ignore the privacy of the confessional in cases of serious crimes, such as child abuse.
That national meeting said it would be up to individual dioceses to adopt the policy, a vote the Adelaide diocese has taken this weekend.
Adelaide Archbishop Jeffrey Driver said the local synod voted to back the change and, after some further consultation with clergy, the church legislation would be signed into effect.
“We’re one of the first dioceses in Australia to deal with this particular canon. There was a protocol in place before but it didn’t provide for disclosure around these matters,” he said.
“It does mean that people can have the reassurance that the Anglican Church in South Australia is doing its absolute best to ensure that we respond properly to the situation where vulnerable minors are at risk of the terrible experience of abuse.”
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