The recent report on sexual abuse in the Church in France raised the question already raised after similar reports were published in Australia, Ireland, the United States and elsewhere: A priest who learns in confession of sexual abuse committed against a child should be obligated to report them to the secular authorities?
Although the Catholic Church does not expect its laws to be considered above national laws, attempts to remove confessional secrecy raise fundamental questions about freedom of religion and conscience. Nor is there any convincing evidence that abuses could be prevented by removing the secrecy.
As Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the French Bishops’ Conference, said after the publication of the French report: “It is necessary to reconcile the nature of confession with the need to protect children”.
This is not easy when the discussion is so charged with emotion and when there is a lot of misunderstanding about the nature of confession within the Catholic Church. The Can. 983 §1 of the Code of Canon Law gives the most direct definition possible of the “confessional seal”: “The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely not lawful for the confessor to betray the penitent even partially with words or in any other way and for any cause “. A priest cannot violate the secret to save his own life, to protect his good name, to save the life of another, or to help the course of justice. Priests who do so are automatically excommunicated.
The absolute secrecy of the confessional explains why people feel free to say things in confession they would not say anywhere else. Some see the insistence on the inviolability of secrecy as a confirmation that the Church does not put the safety and well-being of children first. Sex abusers are sometimes thought to be able to reveal the abuses in confession, receive absolution, and then continue to abuse without repercussions. It is true that some victims of abuse have been enticed and / or abused in the context of the sacrament of confession, which in canon law is considered a serious crime. But it is equally true that, over the centuries, priests have been tortured and martyred for refusing to respond to the demands of brutal regimes to reveal the secrets of confession. The discussion of secrecy is rather delicate on both sides, especially as it concerns very sensitive issues such as shame, privacy and personal responsibility.
Maybe it would help if we made some distinctions and clarifications. First, those who speak of abuses in confession could be perpetrators, or victims of abuse, or people who are aware of abuses committed by others; and in each of these three cases, the abuse could have happened years, or decades ago, or still be ongoing. There are some ideas about confession which, while deeply rooted, are absolutely not true. With the exception of prison chaplains, priests are highly unlikely to hear directly the confession of a perpetrator of child sexual abuse. Only one priest told me he heard a guilty confession – and this only happened once.
It seems the general idea is that Catholics often go to confession. In fact, even in cities, today it is often difficult to find a place where a Catholic can confess. And many do not realize that the priest usually does not know the person present in the confessional and cannot force him to reveal his identity to him. It is precisely the guarantee of anonymity that leads people to confess. If this were removed, very few people would continue to do so – and certainly no culprit would risk arrest. In the event that a penitent confesses to a person who knows him, by chance or by choice, it would be even more unlikely that he would confess to the abuse, or hide the crime using deliberately veiled expressions.
Those who want to abolish confessional secrecy for cases of child abuse or other serious crimes argue that a priest who is aware of an abuse should report it, as should doctors or psychotherapists or other professionals. Current laws on mandatory reporting of abuse vary widely from country to country, but also within states of the same country, often leaving room for some discretion not only on the type of circumstances, but also to whom the person becomes aware of the abuse must file a report. A victim of clerical sexual abuse as an adult pointed out to me how many victims feel guilty and find it extremely difficult to speak of the unspeakable for the first time. He worries that if you can’t be absolutely sure that what you say in confession will remain confidential, you may be missing out on one of the few safe places to start talking about an experience of abuse.
Absolution – the forgiveness of sins – is linked to the fulfillment of the conditions of a valid confession: sincere contrition, clear confession, adequate satisfaction. Absolution cannot be given if there are doubts about any of these conditions. In other words, in the event that someone confesses to abuse, unless he shows signs of sincere repentance and a willingness to remedy the damage done, the confessor must suspend the absolution. However, according to the teaching of the Church, if a priest becomes aware of an abuse or other serious crime during confession, he cannot violate the secret, even if these conditions are not met and he is unable to give the ‘absolution. This is the reason why, for example, a rector is not authorized to hear the confession of a seminarian, so he can speak freely about the advisability of proposing the candidate for ordination and is not bound by the obligations of secrecy.
While according to canon law the absolution cannot be bound to a condition such as reporting the crime to the police, the confessor must do everything in his power to convince a guilty party to take responsibility for what he has done. This includes trying to meet him outside the confessional, where the priest can invite the offender to talk again about the crime he has committed and push him to bring himself to justice.
Similarly, if a victim comes to confession, the confessor can offer a meeting outside the confessional space or suggest support and the possibility of further accompaniment from therapists and lawyers.
If the Church does not better explain why the secrecy of confession does not protect abusers or other serious criminals from justice – and why it can help protect vulnerable children and adults – state lawmakers could target the inviolability of confessional secrecy. I think that if the Church did more to help confessors to be empathic listeners and skilled interpreters of the Church’s moral teaching, it would be clearer how the sacrament of reconciliation can be a tool in the fight against abuse, which would lead to greater trust in confessors, in the process and in the understanding of the sacrament of reconciliation itself.
I believe that the Holy See could consider the formulation of a new instruction for confessors, which reaffirms the obligations relating to the respect of the laws for the denunciation of abuses outside the confessional and with these the secrecy. A crucial point is the personal responsibility of the confessor. This includes urging the perpetrator to stop the abuse, to report themselves to the legal authorities and seek therapeutic help; but also that absolution for the sin of abuse cannot be given unless there is not only sincere contrition, but also the will to undo the damage done. The instruction should also make it clear that in the event that a victim reports that they have been abused, the confessor should listen with empathy and respect. The priest can then offer a meeting outside the confessional space and encourage the victim to contact therapists and lawyers. Adequate accompaniment must be provided, as many victims feel quite uncomfortable when first reporting on the abuse they experience, especially if this opens the way for legal proceedings.
The same norm should define (1) who confessors can contact for clarification and guidance and who should be informed about the persons to whom the victims and who is in difficulty should be addressed; (2) what procedures must be followed by a confessor when a person, be he author or victim, accepts the meeting outside the confession for further clarification; and (3) what preparation is necessary in the initial and ongoing formation of confessors, as well as what support and accompaniment is needed in order to be able to face moral and legal principles that are sometimes in contradiction.
The underlying background implicit in the debate on the Seal is the relationship between the state and the Catholic Church and other religious institutions in a secular and liberal state. The growing feeling that the state must intervene stems from the wound caused by clerical sexual abuse and the belief, present in Europe and North America, that the churches have not been able to adequately address the issue. This creates a church-state tension that requires careful navigation between respect for the legislative powers of the state and religious freedom. A healthy secularism recognizes that there is a temptation for states to “exaggerate” when it comes to religious communities, while a healthy Church knows how to give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.
The secret of confession creates a sacred space in which the penitent is completely free to put before God everything he has on his conscience, and – when he shows contrition – he finds forgiveness, reconciliation and healing. If secrecy has been a pretext for abuse and other crimes in the past, it must not lead to abandoning what is a channel of grace. But there are complex issues that must be addressed, with delicacy and reasoning, in the context of a relationship of mutual trust between Church and State. It may be time for the Church to give clearer instructions on the exercise of the sacrament of reconciliation so that penitents, confessors and those outside the Church can understand it as a place of safety, healing and justice.
* Director IADC – Institute of Anthropology. Interdisciplinary studies on human dignity and the care of vulnerable people – Pontifical Gregorian University
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