In Australia, is the Secret of the Confessional Threatened by the State?
There are two controversial recommendations made to the Church in a report submitted to the Governor-General of Australia: authorize priests who wish to marry, and put an end to the seal of the confessional.
On December 15, 2017, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse submitted its report to the Governor-General.
Several of the recommendations published cause a general outcry from Australian Catholics. Recommendation 16.10, for example, stipulates:
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference should request the Holy See to amend canon law so that the pontifical secret does not apply to any aspect of allegations or canonical disciplinary processes relating to child sexual abuse.
In recommendation 16.18, the Commission asks Australian bishops to ask the Holy See for a sort of made-to-measure priestly celibacy, with “voluntary celibacy for diocesan clergy”.
The Archbishop of Melbourne, Archbishop Denis Hart has already responded that the seal of confession remains “inviolable” and “can’t be broken” in any case whatsoever.
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Sources: childabuseroyalcommission / Le Salon Beige / FSSPX.News
