DURANGO (CO)
Durango Herald
October 19, 2019
By Mathew Schmalz, College of the Holy Cross
After the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, there is a worldwide push to end the guarantee of secrecy of confession – called “the seal of the confessional.”
On Sept. 11, 2019, two Australian states, Victoria and Tasmania, passed bills requiring priests to report any child abuse revealed in the confessional.
Australia has been at the center of the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis. In December 2018, influential Australian Cardinal George Pell was convicted of sexually abusing an altar boy.
Australian bishops have, however, made it clear that the seal of confession is “sacred,” regardless of the sin confessed. With regard to Tasmania’s new law, Archbishop Julian Porteous argued that removing confession’s protection of confidentiality would stop pedophiles from coming forward. That would prevent priests from encouraging them to surrender to authorities.
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