Dear Parishioners,
Earlier this month, California passed a law which would require priests to break the seal of confession if the penitent confesses the crime of sexual abuse of a minor. I can appreciate why someone would support a law like this one. We should all desire the protection of minors and bringing those who abuse them to justice. Yet, I also believe that this law is a very bad idea and would have major unintended consequences. I have not heard many people talk about the problems of having this kind of law. So, I would like to address this issue here.
Confession is when a Catholic tells his/her sins to a priest in order to be forgiven. It is a ministry given directly from Jesus to His apostles and it continues in the priesthood even until today. This sacrament has been practiced in different ways in different times. But, in general, while ancient confessions were more public and the penance given had to be done publicly, the Church, from the early medieval period on has made confession a private affair with spiritual penances. No matter how it is practiced, one thing that has remained constant is that someone needs to confess what they have done and the priest needs to absolve them in order for the confession to be valid. In order to encourage people to come to confession, the Church imposes a promise of secrecy on the priest who is being confessed to. So, if a priest hears a confession and reveals that person’s sin, he would be excommunicated and only be able to be forgiven by the Holy Father.
I get the feeling that when people who do not go to confession imagine what it is like, they think that we as priests are getting all the details or hearing interesting stories. That’s pretty much the opposite of what a confession is. Hearing people’s sins is not a joyful experience. When people are being honest with themselves and God, they (rightly) feel sorry for what they have done and want to repent and change their lives. Sin drains the joy out of life. Sin is just plain embarrassing. I am always happy to hear someone’s confession. But, it’s not because I enjoy what they have to say. I am happy because I am glad to have a frank conversation with someone (since often we feel a need to put on faces and make ourselves look better), to counsel them and to offer them forgiveness. It is my vocation as a priest to forgive people.
In order for this conversation to be truthful and open, we need the seal of confession to remain firmly in place. I do not want to have to choose between going to jail and being cast out of the church. I do not want people to think they should withhold anything from confessional for fear of what sins the state thinks they should know about. If the state did put a law like this into effect, we would not catch a single pedophile because they would just avoid the sacrament. All we would do is encourage people in general to avoid the sacrament of reconciliation out of fear that that communication could be violated. Considering how few people avail themselves of the sacrament already, that’s the last thing we need.
As a side note, I would like to remind everyone that if they are aware of the sexual abuse of a minor, they should immediately report it to the proper authorities. The Diocese of Trenton has this exact policy as well as making sure that everyone in the church who works with minors have a background check and are Virtus certified. Also, the seal of confession does not apply to any information gained outside of confession.
God bless!
Father Carter