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Pope Francis at the Vatican on June 30. Photo: Reuters

Vatican rejects laws aimed at forcing priests to reveal what they hear in confession

  • Most countries’ legal systems respect the religious right of a Catholic priest not to reveal what he has learned in confession
  • But that right is being challenged more frequently in the wake of the sexual abuse crisis that has embroiled the church
No government or law can force Catholic clergy to reveal what they learn in confession, the Vatican said on Monday, in an apparent response to moves in Australia and elsewhere to force them to do so in cases of sexual abuse.

A document from the Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary, which deals with issues of the sacrament of confession, said priests cannot violate the seal “because this duty comes directly from God.”

Pope Francis leads a mass at the Vatican. Photo: Reuters

The document, which did not mention any countries or the sexual abuse crisis, complained of a “worrying negative prejudice against the Catholic Church”.

Most countries’ legal systems respect the religious right of a Catholic priest not to reveal what he has learned in confession, similar to legal professional privilege.

But the sexual abuse crisis that has embroiled the Catholic Church around the world has seen this right challenged more frequently.

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In Australia, an inquiry into child abuse recommended that the country introduce a law forcing religious leaders to report child abuse, including priests told of it during confession.

So far, two of Australia’s eight states have introduced laws making it a crime for priests to withhold information about abuse heard in confession. Others are still considering their response.

In May, the California state senate passed a bill to require the seal of confession to be broken if a priest learns of or suspects sexual abuse while hearing the confession of a fellow priest or a colleague such as a church worker.

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Church leaders in both the United States and Australia have opposed such laws and the document backed them up unequivocally.

“Any political action or legislative initiative aimed at breaking the inviolability of the sacramental seal would constitute an unacceptable offence against the (freedom of the church),” the document said.

“(The Catholic Church) does not receive its legitimacy from individual states, but from God; it (breaking the seal) would also constitute a violation of religious freedom, legally fundamental to all other freedoms, including the freedom of conscience of individual citizens, both penitents and confessors,” it said.

The document said a priest could not demand that a penitent turn himself or herself in to authorities as a condition for receiving absolution from their sins.

The penitent also cannot free a priest from his obligation to respect the seal of confession, it said.

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