AUSTRALIA
ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
June 16, 2016
By Katherine Gregory
Updated about 7 hours ago
Catholic priests have said they are not willing to break the seal of confession to report child sex abuse, and would rather go to jail than abide by the law.
South Australia has joined the ACT in moving ahead with laws to force Catholic priests to break the seal of confession, to report paedophiles to police.
Other states are still deliberating over whether or not they will adopt that recommendation from the royal commission.
But Catholic Church leaders have rejected the idea.
Father Michael Whelan, the parish priest in St Patrick’s Church Hill in Sydney, said priests would not break the seal of confession.
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