BOSTON (MA)
The Conversation
October 10, 2019
By Mathew Schmalz
Following sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, there is a worldwide push to end the guarantee of secrecy of confession – called “the seal of the confessional.”
On Sept. 11, 2019, two Australian states, Victoria and Tasmania, passed bills requiring priests to report any child abuse revealed in the confessional.
Australia has been at the center of the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis. In December 2018, influential Australian Cardinal George Pell was convicted of sexually abusing an altar boy.
Australian bishops have, however, made it clear that the seal of confession is “sacred,” regardless of the sin confessed. With regard to Tasmania’s new law, Archbishop Julian Porteous argued that removing confession’s protection of confidentiality would stop pedophiles from coming forward. That would prevent priests from encouraging them to surrender to authorities.
In the U.S., a California bill proposing ending priestly confidentiality regarding the abuse of minors was withdrawn in July 2019 after a campaign by Catholics and other religious freedom advocates.
Catholic confession has been formally safeguarded by the U.S. Supreme Court since 1818. But therapists, doctors and a few other professionals are required to break confidentiality when there is an immediate threat of harm. Priests are not.
Why is confession so important in the Catholic Church?
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