Regardless of Pressure, Secret of the Confessional is Non-Negotiable in Australia

Archbishop Mark Coleridge is archbishop of Brisbane. His recent election as president of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference comes at a crucial time for the Church.

Over the past months, cases of abuse of minors by members of the clergy have been revealed to the public, to the great discredit of the Church in the eyes of many.  The Royal Commission for Investigation whose responsibility it is to clarify this painful matter went so far in its final report as to suggest putting an end to the secret of the confessional, the goal being to anticipate and denounce cases of abuse.

Archbishop Coleridge expressed himself most clearly in his interview with Crux: “For the Church, the seal of the confessional is non-negotiable,” insisted the prelate. The Royal Commission is mistaken, believes the new president of the Bishops’ Conference, in “regarding the seal as the linchpin of a whole culture of secrecy and cover-up” for which the Church is often reproached.

While there does need to be a discussion, explained the archbishop of Brisbane, it should be to “explain what the seal is all about,” and its part in the unique relationship between the priest and the penitent, he told the journalist Christopher White.

The sacramental seal or secret of the confessional is inviolable by divine right. A confessor is therefore absolutely forbidden to betray in any way the confession of his penitent. The Code of Canon Law provides a series of penalties even going as far as excommunication for a priest who fully or partially breaks this seal.

So far, other countries do recognize this privilege.  For example, French law sees the secret of the confessional as a professional secret, giving it the same status as that of doctors or lawyers (art. 226-13 of the Penal Code).