CANADA
CBC News
By Murray Brewster, CBC News Posted: Aug 17, 2017
The Canadian military’s marching orders for chaplains who counsel perpetrators or victims of sexual misconduct is causing a crisis of conscience for some clergy, federal documents reveal.
A series of morale and welfare reports obtained by CBC News under Access to Information legislation show the issue of pastors being compelled to testify in court has become a matter of increasing unease among military clergy.
“There is concern by chaplains that they are potentially breaching the confidentiality of those receiving spiritual care,” said a March 2015 summary prepared by the military chaplain general’s office. Moreover, the report said, “the existing framework for legal assistance to chaplains does not provide legal advice for them.”
Pastors on bases along the West Coast seemed the most concerned about the ethical dilemma, and at one point they consulted with the regional prosecutor’s office to review legal issues related to chaplain confidentiality in courts martial.
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