Can A Priest Ever Mention, anything Related to What he Heard in a Confession?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mcw013
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
teenphilo1 said:
I am not pounding my fists on the table (its the wall, if you must know :D). It is very simply a matter of the Church documents banning it under all circumstances, regardless of what your priest says.
Click to expand...
Funny on the wall. Good sense of humor

Anyway…

All I am saying is if the Priest knows as an example a child is being molested our church would rather have the Priest speak up than continue the molestation by keeping quiet on the crime. Maybe your church feels otherwise, and the molestation and the child’s safety is not of top concern OK I get that.

We just have different expectations.
 
So is your church not in communion with the Holy See? That is the only way our churches could disagree.
 
Wiseowl said:
Funny on the wall. Good sense of humor

Anyway…

All I am saying is if the Priest knows as an example a child is being molested our church would rather have the Priest speak up than continue the molestation by keeping quiet on the crime. Maybe your church feels otherwise, and the molestation and the child’s safety is not of top concern OK I get that.

We just have different expectations.
Click to expand...
It doesn’t matter what your church “would rather”, your church (I’m assuming you mean parish) cannot tell the priest to violate the seal and expect that he will obey them. He doesn’t get his authority from them.
 
Wiseowl said:
Funny on the wall. Good sense of humor

Anyway…

All I am saying is if the Priest knows as an example a child is being molested our church would rather have the Priest speak up than continue the molestation by keeping quiet on the crime. Maybe your church feels otherwise, and the molestation and the child’s safety is not of top concern OK I get that.

We just have different expectations.
Click to expand...
You say that you are “100% Catholic”. From that I infer you are a member of the Latin (a.k.a. Roman) Catholic Church. If that is the case I am not sure whether you are speaking about the church as the Catholic Church or if you mean your particular parish church.

It is interesting that you say: “… our church would rather have the Priest speak up …”. It appears that you are saying your parish community would like the priest to speak up if he becomes aware through the confessional that someone is molesting children. I can fully understand that sentiment. I shall not say what I would do to anyone who molested my children.

However, despite the fact your community would want a priest to do this he cannot. It does not mean any of us belong to parish communities that care not about the well being of children. I also know it is very hard to accept that no matter how nasty the circumstances, the priest cannot break that sacramental seal.
 
Wiseowl said:
If that is true it’s very problematic , we should help kids in danger and life threatening situations.

Fortunately I have been told Priests would protect kids and those in imminent danger, yes even if information gained in confession. Its a parish congregational agreement to protect families.

So by the book no as you stated, based upon reality yes safety is first and thank goodness.
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t.
 
Wiseowl said:
Funny on the wall. Good sense of humor

Anyway…

All I am saying is if the Priest knows as an example a child is being molested **our church would rather **have the Priest speak up than continue the molestation by keeping quiet on the crime. Maybe your church feels otherwise, and the molestation and the child’s safety is not of top concern OK I get that.

We just have different expectations.
Click to expand...
Our church? The Catholic Church? Or your parish, that may or may not be in line with the Catholic Church in Rome?

So is it just crimes against children? Or are other crimes not kept private in the Confessional? What other sins shouldn’t be confessed “at your church?” What other sins are reported to the authorities? If someone confesses to adultery, does the priest inform the spouse? What if a child confesses to stealing? Does he inform that parents? Or is it just molestation? And is it just molestation of a child?
 
maryjk said:
Our church? The Catholic Church? Or your parish, that may or may not be in line with the Catholic Church in Rome?

So is it just crimes against children? Or are other crimes not kept private in the Confessional? What other sins shouldn’t be confessed “at your church?” What other sins are reported to the authorities? If someone confesses to adultery, does the priest inform the spouse? What if a child confesses to stealing? Does he inform that parents? Or is it just molestation? And is it just molestation of a child?
Click to expand...
Excuse me for saying our Church vs our parish.

Anyway either you protect kids or you don’t. Knowing a child is being molested and claiming hey we can’t do anything does not make sense to our parish. We are proud of this.
 
Wiseowl said:
Excuse me for saying our Church vs our parish.

Anyway either you protect kids or you don’t. Knowing a child is being molested and claiming hey we can’t do anything does not make sense to our parish. We are proud of this.
Click to expand...
I guess I look at it like this…my job as a priest is to be the means for God to come to people, and for people to go to God. It’s not my job to be a police officer. The police need to do their job. Now, outside of Confession, were I to find out about abuse, would I report it? Certainly. But, that’s very, very different from sacramental confession. If what you are suggesting is true, Wiseowl, then your parish, and your priest, has an extremely serious problem.
 
Wiseowl said:
Excuse me for saying our Church vs our parish.

Anyway either you protect kids or you don’t. Knowing a child is being molested and claiming hey we can’t do anything does not make sense to our parish. We are proud of this.
Click to expand...
So, how long do you think it will be until people stop confessing that particular sin?
 
Wiseowl said:
Excuse me for saying our Church vs our parish.

Anyway either you protect kids or you don’t. Knowing a child is being molested and claiming hey we can’t do anything does not make sense to our parish. We are proud of this.
Click to expand...
It appears that you are changing the thrust of this discussion. You’re moving away from facts and trying to base this issue on emotions. We all want to protect our children. Can you tell us of any parish that condones child abuse? It would not be acceptable in my parish.

Can you clarify what you are saying? Would your parish want the priest to break the seal of the confession if a child abuser came to confession and confessed to abusing a child? Alternatively, are you saying that your priest has said that if someone confessed to him they had abused a child he would report them to the authorities?
 
Wiseowl said:
Excuse me for saying our Church vs our parish.

Anyway either you protect kids or you don’t. Knowing a child is being molested and claiming hey we can’t do anything does not make sense to our parish. We are proud of this.
Click to expand...
Exactly how does that manifest itself? A written policy in the Parish Council minutes? A mission statement? You heard this from someone who heard it from someone?

Has it ever happened that your parish priest violated the seal? How does anyone know? If he had never reported anyone you are convinced that it’s because nobody has ever confessed to molesting a child? I have some nice ‘waterfront’ property for sale…
 
God’s priority for the sacraments, and therefore the Church’s priority, is to save souls. In order to save as many souls as possible, it must be known that the sacraments can be approached with the utmost trust in their validity and efficaciousness. For Confessions, likewise, the priest must be trusted to keep the confidence of the penitent under a seal of secrecy. The priest does not act on his own authority. The priest acts in persona Christi, with the authority to bind and loose, and therefore has no personal discretion to reveal another person’s secrets. Indeed, the priest may not know his penitent at all. The priest may not have understood the penitent’s confession in another language. All the priest needs to know is that the penitent has made a good-faith effort to confess his sins in kind and number, and that he is truly sorry for them, and the priest must grant absolution.

You are thinking of health-care professionals or psychologists or school faculty who are bound by the law to report situations of danger to self or others. Priests in the confessional cannot be bound in this way because they act on God’s authority. If word got around that the seal of the confessional was somehow leaking, it would destroy confidence and trust and people would not approach the confessional for fear of being exposed. This would contravene the Church’s mission to save souls! Every person afraid to approach Confession is a soul in jeopardy for eternal salvation.

Moral theology tells us that we cannot commit a wrong even if a right may result. Martyrs have gone to their death defending their faith in Jesus. Priests have been imprisoned and persecuted because of their fidelity to the seal of the confessional. Every once in a while, a government tries to coerce them into violating this seal. The faithful ones do not comply. I am sure they are rewarded greatly in the next world for their obedience to God.
 
buc_fan33 said:
I guess I look at it like this…my job as a priest is to be the means for God to come to people, and for people to go to God. It’s not my job to be a police officer. The police need to do their job. Now, outside of Confession, were I to find out about abuse, would I report it? Certainly. But, that’s very, very different from sacramental confession. If what you are suggesting is true, Wiseowl, then your parish, and your priest, has an extremely serious problem.
Click to expand...
With your scenario;
Gee a child gets molested and best you can say knowing about
it is, its not my job to report it. Hmmmmm.

See we didnt want that attitude or excuse in our parish. We always help kids in danger.
 
Wiseowl said:
With your scenario;
Gee a child gets molested and best you can say knowing about
it is, its not my job to report it. Hmmmmm.

See we didnt want that attitude or excuse in our parish. We always help kids in danger.
Click to expand...
It doesn’t seem as though you answered any of the questions posed.

Is this a written policy? A mission statement? Has this happened in your parish? Where someone went to Confession and then they were reported to the police? Does the Bishop know about this?

Or is this just something you think SHOULD happen? Something you would feel good about?
 
Wiseowl said:
With your scenario;
Gee a child gets molested and best you can say knowing about
it is, its not my job to report it. Hmmmmm.

See we didnt want that attitude or excuse in our parish. We always help kids in danger.
Click to expand...
@Wiseowl: You keep avoiding the key point. All you are doing now is making inciteful emotional statements that infer that you and your fellow parishioners are better than the rest of us. You ignore every valid question posed to you. For example, where does your parish priest stand on this issue? I wonder what we should infer from your avoidance of these questions?

@OP: The priest is forbidden, under pain of excommunication, from revealing anything he has heard in the confessional.
 
Wiseowl said:
With your scenario;
Gee a child gets molested and best you can say knowing about
it is, its not my job to report it. Hmmmmm.

See we didnt want that attitude or excuse in our parish. We always help kids in danger.
Click to expand...
I find it very difficult to believe that all of the people in a Catholic parish would agree to this and the Bishop would not find out about it. I think we are not hearing the whole story, if indeed what you are claiming is true.

Any Bishop would put an immediate halt to this type of action by a parish or one of his priests.
 
Matthew_Holford said:
@Wiseowl: You keep avoiding the key point. All you are doing now is making inciteful emotional statements that infer that you and your fellow parishioners are better than the rest of us. You ignore every valid question posed to you. For example, where does your parish priest stand on this issue? I wonder what we should infer from your avoidance of these questions?

@OP: The priest is forbidden, under pain of excommunication, from revealing anything he has heard in the confessional.
Click to expand...
I, for one do not believe this story. At all. I cannot believe that a whole parish would agree to this, and that no one would report it to the Bishop. Surely not every single person in a parish is agreeable to it. This is something very major, not like the usual complaints a Bishop might get. I think the whole claim is fishy.
 
CB_Catholic said:
I, for one do not believe this story. At all. I cannot believe that a whole parish would agree to this, and that no one would report it to the Bishop. Surely not every single person in a parish is agreeable to it. This is something very major, not like the usual complaints a Bishop might get. I think the whole claim is fishy.
Click to expand...
It is dubious, to say the least. The little information provided is vague and all requests for any specifics are ignored. It appears to be an inept attempt to pass off a personal opinion as something more substantial, i.e. the unanimous position of an entire parish. I cannot recall a single occasion when my parish was of one mind on any issue.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top