A Milwaukee priest has been urging state legislators to repeal the clergy-penitent privilege in mandatory reporting laws that exempt Catholic priests from notifying authorities of any sexual abuse they hear about in the confessional. Following are NCR readers responding to our reporting. The letters have been edited for length and clarity. 

As a young teenager, I was sexually abused by my parish priest, several times a week for several years. The priest insisted I go to him for confession. That insistence was nothing more than a skilled predator ensuring I saw such actions as my complicity in the sexual contact. In other words, the sin was mine.

For a young teenager, these instances of sexual abuse infused by his attention, affection and emotional demands, trips and material gifts I could otherwise never have, caused mind bending conflict. It demanded a level of emotional response no young child could be equipped…