Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Seal of confession is unbreakable

Priests simply cannot reveal what was said to them by penitents, writes Fr Seán McDonagh.

Last week Justice Minister Alan Shatter briefed the media on draft legislation he plans to introduce in the autumn and would oblige priests who have received information about the abuse of children in confession to make that information known to gardaí.

I and all our members in the Association of Catholic Priests consider the abuse of children by anyone to be abhorrent. We are particularly vehement in our condemnation when the abuser is either a priest or religious. Abuse in those circumstances breaks a sacred bond which should exist between a minister of the Gospel of Jesus and a young, vulnerable person. We are also very aware in the light of the Ferns, Murphy and Cloyne reports that bishops and religious leaders did not, in the past, take decisive actions to protect young people against priests who abused.

In the wake of the awful child abuse scandals, Mr Shatter has signalled his intent to overthrow the priest-penitent privilege or the seal of confession if a penitent confesses that he/she was involved in abusing children. This privilege was recognised under the common law of the State in the case Cook v Carroll (1945).

The privilege is also recognised in other jurisdictions. In the US, the Court of General Sessions of the City of New York refused to compel a priest to testify or face criminal prosecution.

The court stated that: "It is essential to the free exercise of a religion, that its ordinances should be administered-that its ceremonies as well as its essentials should be protected. Secrecy is of the essence of penance. The sinner will not confess, nor will the priest receive his confession, if the veil of secrecy is removed: To decide that the minister shall promulgate what he receives in confession, is to declare that there shall be no penance."

It is important to state that the standard of secrecy involved in the seal of confession outweighs any form of professional confidentiality or secrecy. When a person confesses his/her sins to a priest in the Sacrament of Penance, a very sacred trust is formed. It is an central tenet of Catholic faith that in the sacrament of reconciliation, while the priest is the minister of the sacrament, forgiveness for sins comes from Christ. The image often invoked is that of the Father embracing the Prodigal Son in Luke 15: 11-32.

According to the Code of Canon Law, 983:1, "The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason."

Priests, and anyone who witnesses or overhears confession (say, an interpreter, caregiver, or aide of a person with a disability), may not reveal what they have learned to anyone, even under the threat of their own death or that of others. A priest, or anyone else who witnesses or overhears any part of the confession, who breaks that confidentiality incurs latae sententiae, (automatic) excommunication according to Canon 1388:1).

Naturally, if someone confesses a sin of child abuse, the priest would tell a penitent that he/she must inform the proper authorities in that country. Unless the penitent agreed to do this, the priest would probably refuse to give absolution. But the priest cannot directly or indirectly disclose the content of the conversation in the confessional to the civil authorities.

Each priest realises he is the ordained mediator of a very sacred and precious sacrament. He knows that in the confessional, the penitent speaks not so much to him, but through him to the Lord. Therefore, humbled by his position, the priest knows whatever is said in confession must remain secret.

During the Second World War, many Columban missionaries in the Philippines remained with the flock rather than give themselves up to the Japanese authorities. The New Zealand Columban, Fr Francis Douglas was tortured to death by the Japanese because he refused to give details of what he had heard in the confessional from Filipino guerrilla soldiers.

In many ways focusing on the "seal of confession" in the context of legislation of mandatory reporting of sex abuse may be a red herring. Mr Shatter made the point that "I don’t think anyone has a substantial knowledge about numbers of paedophiles sharing their exploits through the confessional and being given absolution for it".

He also pointed out that in legislation introduced in 1998 requiring the mandatory reporting of offences such as murder, kidnapping an bank robberies, no priest has been prosecuted.

The crucial point in this debate is that the State and Catholic Church put structures in place which will protect children.

* Fr Seán McDonagh is member of the leadership team of the Association of Catholic Priests.