This, of course, is impossible. Naturally, secular authority does not recognize any power higher than itself, such as God. This is an attack, not on child abuse, but on the Church. Especially in Australia, which is still quite anti-Catholic. As evil as it is, it is nothing new.
In the US, there are privileges in the law guaranteeing confidentiality, such as doctor/patient, husband/wife, Priest/penitent - but in Oz, there may not be such protections. Anyway, who is going to know if something is confessed in the first place? Being a victim is not confessory material. What is their point, other than to impose secular authority on the Church?
As a lifelong Australian ithas not been my experience that my nation is anti-Catholic, however, the concern would is more a matter of concealing a crime against children, against women, which is of serious concern to rationalist, humanists, as well as people of faith, to all people of conscience.
And yes, we do have those protections you mention in Australia,
The Royal Commission was set up, not because of anti-Catholicism, but because the victims voices rose high enough to be heard, and evidence became overwhelming as it has done in other countries, for instance in Ireland and in some American dioceses. The Royal Commission has no only addressed clerical abuse in the Catholic Church but also in Protestant Churches
A priest once said to me in anguish, "Priests aren’t accountable enough, but he has lived to see those who offend to become more accountable.
Yes, I am sad about that, but also sad that it was ever necessary, ever a reality…but priests too are very human.
Predators whose crimes are concealed often go on to offend others, in fact sometimes many, destroying innocence and lives, and destroying the faith of the victims and their families, sometimes leading to suicide. My own brother became an alcoholic due to abuse of a religious, a friend’s son suicided after priest abuse. A cousin lost her faith. These are a few of the many with similar outcomes, and misplaced abuse guilt, relationship difficulties. The toll is shocking.
The sin of abuse against innocents, against girls, boys, women, has the capacity, and does, destroy faith in others as in God, because some men of God acted entirely contrary to God’s teaching and the Church.
Abuse is a physical, emotional psychological, as well as a SPIRITUAL offense that has the capacity to destroy souls.
That the humanist mind as well as the people of faith, would be stunned that such heinous crimes could be concealed for so long, with offenders shuffled from place to place, is understandable.
For all good priests this must have been and must be a cause of deep grief.
The most high profile of our Australian Catholic churchman is accused of historical crimes, and God only knows the truth there, I pray for him fervently that if the accusations are false it will be proven, but there are many victims of past abuse and in the end their voices have combined to result in a royal commission, and rightly so.
I also find it alarming and confusing that Church canon may be held to account, but I also have great compassion for those sinned against.
In Matthew 16 verses 5-6 Jesus said: 5And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. "
I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide all that happens from here.
May God bless the Church keeping her obedient to His Spirit.
May God bless our priests and Religious with holiness,
may God protect and bless us all,
and heal the wounded amongst us and reunite those now separated from us.
no-one on planet earth can ever prove that a penitent confessed to the crime, in confession, or that a priest did not report it to the police.