Can a priest act on a confession of molestation?
Upvote:0
Oregon, USA, passed a law requiring the breaking of confidentiality in cases of child abuse/molestation.
Psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, teachers, and attorneys all signed on board. The Catholic Church was the only hold out.
It did not do the Church well in the social structure of such a liberal state. The Church (according to media reports) lost their challenge in the state supreme court, but the Church's response was that it would take the risk of a priest's imprisonment for failing to report rather than violate the Sacrament.
The Sacrament is inviolable.
As for moving priests around, this is ubiquitous, not just confined to abuse cases. The typical tenure of a priest at any particular parish is 6 years. There have been some egregious examples which the Church has paid millions of dollars over.
Upvote:7
Canon law is very explicit on this...
The priest can't betray the person confessing (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.
Sacramentale sigillum inviolabile est; quare nefas est confessario verbis vel alio quovis et quavis modo de causa aliquatenus prodere paenitentem.
Considering these rules, if the priest confessing sexual attacks only ever discloses it in the sacrament of reconciliation, he is free from any disciplinary action from the bishop.
If he were to disclose such abuses outside the sacrament of reconciliation, (or get caught), only then is he vulnerable to disciplinary actions.
Let's say the Bishop was suspicious about a priest and decided to tell a random person to eavesdrop on the confession...
Canon Law 983.2 covers that
The interpreter, if there is one, and all others who in any way have knowledge of sins from confession are also obliged to observe secrecy.
The priest facing disciplinary actions as a result of such abuses (hopefully) either got caught or disclosed it outside the sacrament of reconciliation.
The priest hearing this confession can encourage him to give himself up.
What if the Priest told the guy confessing that his penance is giving himself up?
Using the example of another type of sin, (murder) Fr. Charles Grondin answered this question saying...
To require that someone turn himself in to the police would be to require him to reveal his confession to a third party. While the sinner is free to do so if he chooses, to require it would appear to be the equivalent of the priest revealing the contents of the confession via a secondary source. In light of canon 984, the priest only knows who the murderer is based on the confession. To require the penitent to turn himself in to the police would be to use that information to the detriment of the penitent. And if the absolution is essentially conditional upon this requirement it would seem to also violate canon 980. If someone is not sufficiently contrite the confessor can simply withhold absolution. If the penitent is sufficiently contrite the priest can most certainly encourage him to turn himself in to the police but to require someone to reveal their confession to another would violate canon law.
Can. 980 If the confessor is in no doubt about the penitent's disposition and the penitent asks for absolution, it is not to be denied or delayed.
Can. 984 §1. A confessor is prohibited completely from using knowledge acquired from confession to the detriment of the penitent even when any danger of revelation is excluded.
More post
- 📝 Saint Quotes on Holy Obedience to Overcome Satan
- 📝 According to Chalcedonian Trinitarians, why did Jesus not mention himself at John 4:23?
- 📝 Isaiah 34:11 translation of animal names
- 📝 How do Jehovah's Witnesses explain Paul's apparent equating of Yahweh and Jesus in Ephesians 4?
- 📝 Should dating couples who put themselves regularly to the occasion of sin be granted absolution if they do not have a will to avoid such situations?
- 📝 Modern revelation. Is there Biblical evidence against it?
- 📝 How do Young Earth Creationists counter scientific evidence for an old earth?
- 📝 Can Catholic works of ‘satisfaction’ (prayer, fasting, etc.) for the removal of temporal punishments of venial sin be credited to others still alive?
- 📝 Is the resolution not to sin again a must for absolution?
- 📝 When and why did Protestantism begin moving away from liturgy?
- 📝 What's the official Catholic position regarding the literal truth of incidents described in the Old Testament?
- 📝 How can we reconcile Judges 10:13 with Numbers 23:19?
- 📝 For how long did the early Christians share all their possessions?
- 📝 Why is Eben Ezer used as a shop's name in Chile?
- 📝 How can I find and read Alpha News?
- 📝 Did God the Son become flesh?
- 📝 How could a seventh-century heretic have possessed papal infallibility?
- 📝 What is a Christian's justification for a legal prohibition of h*m*sexual marriage?
- 📝 What is the difference between an "issue of covenant" and an "abomination to God"?
- 📝 What response do 'old earth creationists' have to the discovery of mature galaxies at the limits of observation?
- 📝 Into how many languages has the Book of Mormon been translated?
- 📝 Joseph Smith Translation of verses in Isaiah 42 vs the Great Isaiah Scroll
- 📝 What is the name of this disciple of Jesus in the English language?
- 📝 When did the LDS church begin teaching the Word of Wisdom?
- 📝 Book recommendation that goes over how the bible is compiled based on manuscripts
- 📝 What language did Adam speak?
- 📝 Is brethren a currently used term for plural of brother (monks)?
- 📝 How does John Owen account for scriptures which state that justification by faith is not through the law?
- 📝 Giving to the church or giving to the poor?
- 📝 How can I be sure someone I know is going to Heaven?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Can a priest act on a confession of molestation?
- 📝 Can a Catholic priest adopt a child?
- 📝 Under what conditions can a "good" or "charitable" act actually be sin?
- 📝 How can we be sure our specific Christian confession is true, when every other Christian group claims that it's not?
- 📝 Did Samuel act as a priest on top of being a prophet?
- 📝 Can a priest give a Mass in American Sign Language (ASL)? What does he do when he is supposed to lift up the Eucharist while speaking in ASL?
- 📝 Can a Catholic priest be tied to a single parish or other physical church his entire life?
- 📝 Can a priest resign?
- 📝 Can a priest validly celebrate a mass without anybody else present?
- 📝 Can a priest make disclosure of sin a part of penance?
- 📝 Can a Catholic priest conduct a Catholic baptism upon the request of non-Catholic parents, assuming that they will raise the child Catholic?
- 📝 In Catholic teaching, what specific actual sinful act did Adam and Eve commit, and what level of authority can be applied to this teaching?
- 📝 Does a Roman Catholic priest have to intellectually understand a confession in order to grant absolution?
- 📝 Can a priest administer last rites to himself?
- 📝 Can a Catholic Priest report a murderer's confession?
- 📝 If and When a Catholic Priest May Reveal Something from a Penitent's Confession
- 📝 Can a Catholic priest take Anglican services?
- 📝 Can a Catholic ask for protection from a priest in case his/her spouse has filed a no-fault divorce?
- 📝 Can a priest add his own prayers to the Mass after the dismissal?
- 📝 What was the origin of repeated confession of fault during the Act of Contrition?
- 📝 Under What Conditions Can a Priest Validly Refuse to Absolve Sins?
- 📝 Can knowledge obtained in a seminarian's confession be used to determine if he should be ordained?
- 📝 Can only the priest lead the ritual of washing the feet in Holy Thursday in the Catholic Church?
- 📝 Can God act against His will?
- 📝 According to Catholic scholars, is Satan privy to our prayers, and can he act on them?
- 📝 Can a Catholic Priest in the Ordinariate be married to a non-Christian?
- 📝 Under a Protestant perspective what sort of ‘sacrifices’ as a symbolic priest can a believer perform within the ‘priesthood’ of all believers?
- 📝 Can an act of martydom include the taking of another's life?
- 📝 Can a Uniate (Eastern) Catholic priest celebrate the Mass according to the Latin Rite?
- 📝 If a priest makes a major mistake during confession, can he later talk to the person to correct themselves?