Confession and its role in scandals

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I agree, they are well above average IQ often, but vital signs are actually not that easy to control nor is brain activity. I know, that sounds over the top, now we have a priest hooked up to electronics being forced to see pictures of children etc, horrifying but …it is an option. Maybe it might be viewed as the part of the price to pay for serving God.

This is blue sky thinking you understand.
 
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StandUp4Truth said:
Here are a few ideas that I’ve seen floating around which may address these issues:

-Returning to traditional confession booths with partitions (may address some of the physical issues?)
-End face to face confessions (may restore some anonymity)
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These reasons are exactly why my country has done away with closed private confession. The new open way of conducting confession prevents any potential for abuse, or the use of the confessional for abuse.
 
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Nigel7 said:
Confessions aren’t even part of the problem.

There is an 800 lb gorilla in the room though. (shhhh)
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After reading the detailed accounts of abuse suffered by many victims, the misuse of confession by predators is a recurring theme.
Victims recount everything ranging from physical abuse in the confessional itself to the more subtle grooming methods described by others here.
Many victims are at their most vulnerable in the process of confessing their sins in private with their confessor.
For faithful Catholics, this violates the sanctity of the Sacrament of Confession, which constitutes the ultimate betrayal of trust.
Are there ways in which we can reduce the potential harm predators can inflict while keeping the sacrament intact?
 
Hodos said:
The real problem is that the seminaries have been coopted for quite a while by predatory people in positions of power.
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I agree that the bigger problem is corruption, I don’t mean to imply that confession is the cause of these scandals, but I think we can all agree that (as performed at many parishes) it does provide a significant opportunity for predators.
I’m interested in ways the Church can change how confessions are heard to reduce the potential harm which predators can inflict while still maintaining the sanctity of the sacrament.
Corruption in the Church is cyclical (as in any organization), so is there a way to further “corruption-proof” the way our priests conduct confessions?
 
Transparent confessional with one person outside in attendance always.
 
What if an abuser somehow has incurred excommunication latae sentitiae and is trying to make a confession anyway for the purpose of covering up their deeds with the seal? Sacramental abuse incurs excommunication i seems. I am no Canon law expert but it feels like that’s something that would make the seal null and void?
 
Lee1 said:
Is there not any advice information about what to expect and what not to expect in confession which people could be armed with priorly?
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I don’t know. Again though, I really don’t think the issue is with how confession is performed. The issue is with who is being ordained as pastors/priests. How are they being selected? Are we using a Biblical model of doing so? I would argue we probably aren’t. How are pastors evaluated during seminary? Are there warning signs that are being ignored? And, also, what is being done with pastors or priests who are alleged or have been found to have been engaging in activities that are abusive? I think you have to look at those things first. The answer isn’t to stop trusting your priests and pastors. It is to ordain faithful men to be pastors and get rid of those who prove themselves to be unfaithful.
 
Sbee0 said:
What is revolting to me is hearing about phony confessions being made by abusers - they “confess” not for absolution but to permanently silence the confessor on the subject due to the seal of confession. That is pure evil and nothing else.
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I don’t believe it works that way. Let’s say I shoot someone. Let’s also say a priest witnesses it. Me confessing to that priest does not mean he can’t use what he saw outside of confession to influence his actions.
 
Well, if confessionals are the problem I keep suggesting transparent sound proof ones would be a solution as I’m sure you’ve noticed.

Psychometric testing should be used to help with a rigorous vetting process.

As for choosing good Christian men only that’s extremely hard to tell because they can lie, deceive etc. It would be a shame if people couldn’t trust their priests but it sounds as though that is the position right now. I think however that though I may not trust someone else’s priest I do actually trust mine and I feel charitable enough towards him that I can give him the benefit of the doubt. I expect most people feel that way. The trick is to adopt safeguarding, vetting techniques and …transparent confessionals! VIRTUS sounds good.

Priests etc who have been found to be guilty of these things should be excommunicated at least. If they manage to rehabilitate then they would need to continue their relationship with God outside of the Church. Their forgiveness would be a matter for God alone because they can’t be trusted to deal with the public anymore in my opinion. Ok so we are taught to endlessly forgive but we can forgive them and still bar them from the Church.
 
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CradleCath0lic said:
This is why boys are more often abused. Boys are in a position of looking up to priests as a role models AND boys have a higher level of guilt and embarrassment about reporting the abuse.
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Wow so now we’re blaming the victim (for underreporting abuse)

Kind of like it’s the woman’s fault for wearing that short skirt

This is the insane logic resulting from not addressing the real problem (homosexual tendencies) and prioritizing hurt feelings over destroyed lives.

In 2013, Pope Francis said “if there is any doubt, best not to accept them” to Italian Bishops on seminarians with possible homosexual tendencies

2005 Vatican Rule states “the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture’”
 
That won’t worj and is deeply unethical. Firstly the most accurate test for detecting paedophilic tendencies (in men) is called a penile plethysmograph, in essence it measures changes to penile circumference during arousal, and is regarded as having high sensitivity at low levels of arousal. The problem is that while it is most accurate test available it only has an accuracy rating of 32%.

The ethical problems come from the fact that in order for the test to work at all, you’d need to show someone indecent images of a child. Which means you’d need to either make the image or use the image of someone who has already been abused.
 
Lee1 said:
As for choosing good Christian men only that’s extremely hard to tell because they can lie, deceive etc. It would be a shame if people couldn’t trust their priests but it sounds as though that is the position right now.
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Well, one of the things the early church said to do was see how men managed their families. We have taken the biggest qualifier right out of the equation. That isn’t just the Roman Catholic Church. Most seminarians in Protestant denominations are also relative young guys just getting started in life.
 
That’s not victim blaming, that’s a statistical fact.

Your attitude is exactly the reason why the RCC is failing in the West and is likely to continue to do so, homosexuality is not the issue.
 
As an atheist that’s not hard.

Seriously though @CradleCath0lic gave a brilliant breakdown about sexual predators that you would wise to reread. The main point is that most sexual abuse is not a crime of sex, it’s a crime of power.
 
How ridiculous !

The penitent could’ve just gone to God who understands the human heart, never mind human languages, but instead required a translator for the priest.

Jim
 
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