Confession and priests under threat in Utah

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Yes the bills sponsor is a woman who is reportedly raised Catholic. With catechesis in the past 40 years it’s uncertain if she is aware of what she is proposing.

Utah politics can get complicated like anywhere. A lot of Utahns are Democrat or even anti-religion by nature of push back against the Mormon church’s prevalence in society.
 
That’s to me about the only pathway forward if something like this were to pass (if it even get brought to the floor for vote). Only anonymous confessions.

In theory a priest sits in the confessional… a penitent confesses child sex abuse face to face… the priest is now obligated to break the law and risk jail, or to be excommunicated. To me that’s a pretty tenuous position every time you walk into the confessional.
 
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Servant31 said:
Utah politics can get complicated like anywhere.
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I don’t know a lot about american politics and law but let us pretend that this bill was passed in Utah and we know the priests won’t break the seal but let us pretend for one moment that they did. Any sexual abuser would go to a different state for confession? What do they gain in Utah?
 
So possibly that’s true. Truthfully we don’t know how many people confess this. I’m assuming you are correct that most would go elsewhere. But in either case imagine going to your job every day with the choice of jail or excommunication… for something which is completely out if your control. That’s a lot of uncertainty to live with.

I’m betting this bill won’t make it even fir a vote. But let’s say it did, and then passed. It would be appealed and appealed. However if it went all the way through the process and survived think about how many states would follow suit.
Just my thoughts anyway.
 
@Servant31
Salt Lake City and the Democratic Party can still be liberal. It was a democratic lawmaker who was raised Catholic who is the sponsor of the bill. I believe most of the LDS lawmakers would be of the opposing party. The article states that the Mormon Church hasn’t taken a stance on the bill at the time of writing, but I would be surprised if they would be alright with it.
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You make a good point. In fact, the LDS Church requires members to confess serious sins to their bishops (pastors). I don’t know whether there is a seal for LDS confessions.

But one thing’s for sure. Catholic priests will go to prison rather than break the sacramental seal.
 
It’s pretty telling that the LDS person they quote in the article as supporting this bill is 1) Excommunicated from LDS church and 2) Living in Texas, not Utah.
 
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