AUSTRALIA
news.com.au
MAY 11, 2017
Megan Neil
Australian Associated Press
Australia’s Catholic bishops have retreated from an archbishop’s push to go to Rome seeking answers on whether the seal of confession can be broken to protect children from sexual abuse.
Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson had proposed sending a delegation of Australian bishops to Rome to seek the Pope’s guidance on the confessional seal and other issues raised in the child abuse royal commission.
But the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s week-long plenary meeting in Sydney has ended without that commitment.
The nation’s bishops discussed issues raised by the royal commission such as whether the seal of confession effectively protects everything said in the confessional, including if a child reveals they are being abused.
“The discussion was pastoral rather than tactical,” the ACBC said in a statement to AAP on Thursday.
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