AUSTRALIA
BBC News
By Claudia Allen
BBC News
Priests who suspect child abuse after hearing confession should report it to the authorities – or face criminal charges. That is one of the conclusions reached by Australia’s four-year Royal Commission investigating child sex abuse.
The proposal applies to the suspicion of child abuse in an institutional context – for example within an organisation which provides services to children or cares for them, such as a church or a children’s home.
But the Roman Catholic Church in Australia is opposed to the proposal, despite saying that outside of the confession it is “absolutely committed” to reporting all offences against children to the authorities.
So what is different about confession?
Surely priests would have a moral duty – if not a legal one – to report any concerns, in order to protect children?
Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane appeared to recognise that it can be hard for non-Catholics to understand why this is not the case:
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