Blackmail of a priest after confessing abuse?

  • Thread starter Thread starter laylow
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
IDK, seems like every logical argument being presented as to why this is unlikely to happen is just being rejected by the OP. I don’t think it’s ever going to happen outside of somebody’s Hollywood script, sorry.
 
Law and Order: SVU Season 3 Episode 23 Silence…very similar story to what you are talking about I believe.
 
jrgmercado said:
Law and Order: SVU Season 3 Episode 23 Silence…very similar story to what you are talking about I believe.
Click to expand...
Really? Interesting, thanks, I’ll have to check it out. People always told me I missed my “calling.”
 
jrgmercado said:
The better questions is: can a priest use information told to him in a confession to start looking into a crime? So if someone confesses that they are stealing from the collection, can the priest “suggest” that an audit be done or that Ms Jones not be allowed to count the collection?
Click to expand...
Already answered:
neophyte said:
Nothing shared in confession can be used in any way to the detriment of the penitent.
Click to expand...
Suppose the head of a religious community hears in confession from his subordinate, who is responsible for the finances of the community, that that subordinate has been embezzling funds. Even in that case the confessor cannot remove him from that assignment, because of the inviolability of the seal.
 
Last edited:
And this is why no abuse should be reported to the diocese but to authorities. Authorities dont really care about the blackmail.
 
laylow said:
For example, if the accuser was a fellow priest, he could threaten to accuse the confessional priest of spreading information that was told in the confessional.
Click to expand...
Not sure I’m seeing what the threat would be. I mean, it would have to be something like a person coming to you and saying, “Fr Laylow, if you repeat what Gorgias told you outside the confessional, I’m going to report you for revealing what I told you in the confessional.” See the problem? You could tell me to tell my story to other authorities, and there’d be no breaking of the seal, and therefore, nothing to blackmail with.
 
It doesn’t end; and there is nothing the priest could be blackmailed about. Once the priest has heard a confession, he is bound by the seal and that ends the discussion.

It is the State which seems to think the priest has a duty to “out” an abuser who has confessed along with a goodly number of people who know nothing about 2 issues: one is the Church’s stance (the seal of confession) and the other is the world of law; at least in some states there is what is referred to as “privilege”, which extends to priests and ministers, as well as to others; spousal privilege is fairly common.
 
We already have had a case of this. Former Archbishop Philip Wilson was jailed for this reason.

By no means can any clergymen break the seal of confession. God’s authority is above all Earthly authority. Every priest I talked to and heard about the seal of confession said they would go to jail than to break it. Breaking the seal of confession means auto-excommunication.

I think, even if the seal of confession isn’t used, that priest shouldn’t be blackmailing anyone. We’re people of good will seeking the forgiveness of sins and rehabilitating fellow brothers and sisters. Our terrible jail system is not the place to do that.
 
This whole thread is, IMHO, ridiculous, pointless, and childish. The OP keeps changing the situation with even more outlandish details.
 
Then maybe a good one, like Hitchcock’s “I Confess” would help 🙂
 
I am not adding anything just saying that you are fussing about a whole lot of what if’s. Trust in God more and you won’t need to wonder so much. I suggest getting out your Bible and reading cos you know what they say about idle hands, it’s the same for idle minds… so give yours something constructive to do… rather than wondering about some obscure outlandish possibilities 😉
 
Tis_Bearself said:
A priest who hears dozens of confessions is not going to remember one in particular.
Click to expand...
I suppose it depends on what is confessed. If he hears an old lady say she’s been hitting the sherry too much and topping the bottle up with cold tea her husband won’t notice he may forget. If an old lady confessed, ‘you know my husband has died well I put rat poison in his tea’, is something he may remember.
 
and my pastor probably won’t recognize my voice but the chaplain would…
 
Gorgias said:
Not sure I’m seeing what the threat would be. I mean, it would have to be something like a person coming to you and saying, “Fr Laylow, if you repeat what Gorgias told you outside the confessional, I’m going to report you for revealing what I told you in the confessional.” See the problem? You could tell me to tell my story to other authorities, and there’d be no breaking of the seal, and therefore, nothing to blackmail with.
Click to expand...
Ok, I’ll try to spell it out. Fr. Johnson (Head priest of his parish) molested 2 boys in 2012. He feels like he can no longer “control” the boys and thinks they are going to turn him in. Thinking that the boys are more likely to talk to Fr. Smith (the other priest at the parish) instead of going to the authorities, Fr. Johnson sets up an immediate confession with Fr. Smith. Knowing Fr. Smith cannot share any of the details of his confession, Fr. Johnson tells it all.
Fr. Johnson now believes that if the kids talk to Fr. Smith, he can threaten Smith with the seal of confession if Smith wants to go to the authorities after hearing the kids testimony. Since Fr. Johnson is in an authority position relative to Fr. Smith, Fr. Smith may be deceived in thinking that outside testimony would not be treated separately from the confessional testimony, even if it may be the same testimony.
 
This one is pretty easy…if the boys come to Fr Smith, Fr Smith can still report Fr Johnson because he got the information from the boys not Fr Johnson, regardless of Fr Johnson’s confession. Fr Smith would not be able to use any of the information given to him under confession. So no blackmail.
 
jrgmercado said:
This one is pretty easy…if the boys come to Fr Smith, Fr Smith can still report Fr Johnson because he got the information from the boys not Fr Johnson, regardless of Fr Johnson’s confession. Fr Smith would not be able to use any of the information given to him under confession. So no blackmail.
Click to expand...
Yes, I should have worded at as perceived blackmail.
 
And the good priests I know, even if evil Fr Johnson were believed by everyone all the way up to the Pope when he said Fr Smith revealed what was in Confession, good Fr Smith would accept his unjust punishment and offer up his suffering.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top