Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home News Australia

Bishops call for protection of confessional seal following Royal Commission’s recommendations

byMark Bowling
14 August 2017 - Updated on 1 April 2021
Reading Time: 3 mins read
AA
confessional

Sacrament questioned: "In the Sacrament of Penance, the relationship between priest and penitent is unlike any other relationship, because the penitent speaks not to the priest but to God, with the priest only a mediator. Photo: CNS.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
confessional
Sacrament questioned: “In the Sacrament of Penance, the relationship between priest and penitent is unlike any other relationship, because the penitent speaks not to the priest but to God, with the priest only a mediator. Photo: CNS.

PROTECTING the sacred dialogue between God and sinner in the confessional needs to be paramount if Australian lawmakers are to follow new recommendations proposed by the Royal Commission, Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge has said.

Archbishop Coleridge was responding to the recommendations made by Royal Commission into child sexual abuse that would require members of clergy to report information even if it is revealed in the confessional.

The recommendation was one of 85 contained in a report released by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse today.

The report, titled Criminal Justice, includes reform to police and prosecution responses, evidence of complainants, sentences and appeals, and grooming offences.

It also recommends making failure to report child sexual abuse in institutions a criminal offence.

Persons in institutions should report if they know, suspect or should have suspected a child is being or has been sexually abused.

This would make it illegal for clergy to refuse to report incidents of child sexual abuses that are received during confession even though the Church believes the penitent is speaking to God.

Archbishop Coleridge said the final decision would rest with the parliaments of Australia and it was “with them that the Church must now speak, since it is they who will decide the law of the land”.

“All citizens are bound to respect the law, but it is ultimately conscience which stands in judgment upon the decisions of individuals who, if they choose to break the law, choose also to accept the consequences of that,” Archbishop Coleridge said.

“The challenge for the Church is to hold together two key values: first, the protection of the young and vulnerable, and second, the protection of the sacrosanct character of the sinner’s dialogue with God.

Related Stories

Consent, reporting and sexual education – Catholic principal takes a lead

Amidst the ruins Pope calls Iraqis to affirm kinship under one God

Humble, dedicated priest remembered at funeral Mass

“In the Sacrament of Penance, the relationship between priest and penitent is unlike any other relationship, because the penitent speaks not to the priest but to God, with the priest only a mediator.

“That needs to be kept in mind when making legal decisions about the seal of the confessional.

“So too does the need to protect the young and vulnerable in every way possible.”

The Royal Commission’s final hearing into the Catholic Church in February asked a panel of priests with more than 150 years’ combined experience if they had ever heard a person admit to a crime during confession.

The priests responded that they could not recall this happening.

Several priests in the panel said it was possible to withhold absolution until the penitent confessed the crime to police.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart also responded to the recommendations, saying the sacrament of Penance was “a spiritual encounter with God through the priest”.

“It is a fundamental part of the freedom of religion, and it is recognised in the Law of Australia and many other countries,” Archbishop Hart said.

“It must remain so here in Australia.

“Outside of this all offences against children must be reported to the authorities, and we are absolutely committed to doing so.”

Royal Commission chief executive officer Philip Reed said the criminal justice system was often seen as not being effective in responding to child sexual abuse cases, and conviction rates were lower compared to other crimes.

“Child sexual abuse cases are often ‘word against word’ cases with no eyewitnesses or medical or scientific evidence. Complainants often take years or decades to disclose their abuse,” Mr Reed said.

“Although we have focused on child sexual abuse in institutions, these eighty-five recommendations are likely to improve responses to child sexual abuse in all contexts.”

Mr Reed said the recommendations had been informed by the Royal Commission’s public hearings, private sessions, a consultation paper, research and roundtables sessions.

The commission heard of cases in religious settings where perpetrators who made a religious confession to sexually abusing children went on to reoffend and seek forgiveness.

The report recommends there be no exemption, excuse, protection or privilege from the offence granted to clergy for failing to report information disclosed in connection with a religious confession.

The report also recommends “failure to protect a child within an institution from a substantial risk of sexual abuse by an adult associated with the institution” should be made a criminal offence.

The commission heard of many cases where perpetrators were moved between schools and other sites operated by the same institutions when an allegation against them was raised.

They continued to abuse children in new locations.

The report also recommends legislation should be introduced or amended to adopt a broad grooming offence that includes any communication or conduct with a child with the intention of grooming the child to be involved in a sexual offence.

Furthermore, governments should introduce laws to extend their grooming offences to the grooming of persons other than the child, such as a parent or carer.

This aims to protect the child while also recognising that grooming behaviour can harm those who care for the child.

By Mark Bowling and Emilie Ng

Previous Post

WIN – Double Passes to ‘All Saints’

Next Post

Workplace exploitation leaving Latin American students without food, security

Mark Bowling

Mark is the joint winner of the Australian Variety Club 2000 Heart Award for his radio news reporting in East Timor, and has also won a Walkley award, Australia’s most-respected journalism award. Mark is the author of ‘Running Amok’ that chronicles his time as a correspondent juggling news deadlines and the demands of being a husband and father. Mark is married with four children.

Related Posts

Education

Consent, reporting and sexual education – Catholic principal takes a lead

12 March 2021 - Updated on 6 April 2021
News

Amidst the ruins Pope calls Iraqis to affirm kinship under one God

10 March 2021 - Updated on 26 March 2021
News

Humble, dedicated priest remembered at funeral Mass

18 February 2021
Next Post

Workplace exploitation leaving Latin American students without food, security

Matthew Scott

Cowboys' star Matthew Scott is helping to tackle Townsville's growing gambling crisis

Putney fellowship

Inaugural Putney fellowship launches to address alarming rates of youth suicide in North Queensland

Popular News

  • March for Life set to attract big crowd opposed to abortion, euthanasia

    March for Life set to attract big crowd opposed to abortion, euthanasia

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong Catholic media tycoon, sent to prison

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Pope prays for peace and reconciliation between Moscow and Kiev as military tensions rise

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Was the Sudarium of Oviedo really wrapped around Jesus’ head after his death?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What is lust?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

March for Life set to attract big crowd opposed to abortion, euthanasia
News

March for Life set to attract big crowd opposed to abortion, euthanasia

by Mark Bowling
19 April 2021
0

A CATHOLIC doctor, who will speak at this year’s Brisbane March for Life on Saturday May 8,...

Sudarium of Oviedo: Was it really used to cover the face of Jesus after his death?

Was the Sudarium of Oviedo really wrapped around Jesus’ head after his death?

19 April 2021
Pope prays for peace and reconciliation between Moscow and Kiev as military tensions rise

Pope prays for peace and reconciliation between Moscow and Kiev as military tensions rise

19 April 2021
Catholic media tycoon and philanthropist Jimmy Lai, now behind bars in Hong Kong. He was among nine activists found guilty of charges relating to pro-democracy demonstrations.

Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong Catholic media tycoon, sent to prison

19 April 2021
Flying buttresses are pictured on the exterior of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris Dec. 23, 2019. Two years after a fire destroyed much of the church's wooden structure, a fundraising group is urging people to sponsor a statue or gargoyle to help with reconstruction.

‘Sponsor a gargoyle’ to help rebuild Notre-Dame Cathedral

16 April 2021
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyReturn to Shop
    Continue Shopping