The suggestion by IICSA that the Seal of Confession is violable misunderstands its essence, writes Fr Richard Whinder
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, has recommended a new law requiring anyone working with children to report allegations of sexual abuse to the police, and that those who fail to do so should face prosecution. The report states: “Mandatory reporting… should be an absolute obligation; it should not be subject to expectations based on relationships of confidentiality, religious or otherwise.” In effect, the new law would seek to require Catholic priests to break the Seal of Confession, should an abuser reveal a crime within the context of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
To many people – perhaps even Catholics – this will seem a reasonable requirement, given the appalling history of abuse uncovered by IICSA, and the unhappy record of the Church in this regard. Undoubtedly child sex abuse is a terrible sin, and the Church has much to repent of in how it has dealt with it in the past. A certain number of clerics – not only priests, but bishops and even cardinals – carried out dreadful crimes. A larger number – again, including senior churchmen and Vatican officials – connived in the cover-up of such abuse.
This must never happen again. Fortunately, the Church has established robust procedures in the past two decades which have done much to eliminate the culture which previously allowed abuse to go unchecked. But there is no room for complacency. Certainly, the Church must continue to work with the agencies of the State to improve the way we operate and ensure that the well-being of children is always paramount. However, extending mandatory reporting of abuse to Confession would be extremely problematic.
Firstly, the language used by the IICSA report fails to do justice to what Confession means within the Catholic Faith. What happens in Confession is not just another professional relationship, akin to that of teacher and pupil or doctor and patient. According to Catholic doctrine, Confession is one of the Seven Sacraments, instituted by Jesus Christ himself – its origins are divine, not human. The absolute confidentiality of Confession belongs to the essential nature of the Sacrament – it is not something that anyone in the Church has the power to change, not even the Pope himself.
If not even the Pope can order the Seal of Confession to be broken, still less can any priest on his own authority take it upon himself to break the Seal, even if required to do so by an agent of the State. A law which required the clergy to break the Seal in this way would place Catholic priests in an intolerable situation. Moreover, the proposed law would have negative consequences for the laity, as well as for priests.
Any priest who has heard confessions for a number of years will know that people can discuss things in Confession that they would never reveal elsewhere. Consciences have been unburdened, marriages have been saved – indeed, lives have been saved – because the absolute confidentiality of the confessional provides the ultimate “safe space” for people to discuss their dilemmas without any fear of publicity. It is hard to believe that this sense of confidence would endure if the Seal of Confession were no longer to be considered sacrosanct.
Lastly, one can reasonably ask how the proposed law would work in practice. It has to be remembered that priests very often don’t know the people who come to confess to them – many people chose to go to Confession outside their own parishes, or in busy churches such as cathedrals, shrines and oratories, which typically have more priests available to hear Confessions, and where they can remain anonymous. Most Confessions take place behind a grille (still required to be present by Canon Law), which adds to this anonymity.
How, then, would a priest identify an abuser, even if he were minded to do so? Will penitents henceforth be required to give their names and addresses before beginning their Confession? Will they even have to record these details on some kind of official document (as people attending Mass were required to do during the Covid-19 pandemic)? Again, one has the sense that the authors of the IICSA report don’t really understand how the Sacrament of Confession operates, or the impact their proposals would have in real life.
The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have welcomed the IICSA report and promised to reflect on its findings. This is right and proper. But in their response, they must make clear how important the Seal of Confession is within the Catholic faith. It is not something the Church has the power to alter, and in effect the proposed legislation would be unworkable. Certainly, the Church must face up to the mistakes of the past and actively co-operate with the State in the protection of children. But the State must also recognise its duty to respect the religious rights of Catholics, and must find ways to work positively with the Church rather than cause division.
Fr Richard Whinder is parish priest of Holy Ghost, Balham, London
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