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Apologetics

Confession must be subject to mandatory reporting

Bryan Keon-Cohen, Joseph Poznanski

The absolute confidentiality of the Catholic Church’s confessional puts vulnerable children at risk.

Illustration: Andrew Dyson.Illustration: Andrew Dyson.

While the Catholic Church appears willing to accept the Victorian parliamentary committee’s recommendations in its report Betrayal of Trust, the church hierarchy rejects the application of a mandatory reporting regime to the sacrament of Penance, that is, the Confessional.

The report also declined to extend mandatory reporting to compel priests, in appropriate circumstances, to break the Seal of the Confessional. COIN (Commission of Inquiry Now) disagrees.

One of the seven sacraments, this rite dates to the early Middle Ages and remains an integral part of Catholic faith. All Catholics who have attained the age of discretion are required to confess their sins through the Confessional. Basically, it is an article of faith: no more, no less.

The Victorian inquiry had broad terms of reference and dealt with religious and non-religious institutions throughout Victoria. Yet according to the report, the overwhelming majority of criminal acts perpetrated against vulnerable children were committed by Catholic priests. Despite this appalling record, the church hierarchy insists that, on the grounds of religious right, the Confessional should remain exempt from mandatory reporting. If a penitent reveals during the Confession that he or she has been sexually abused by anybody, the priest must not disclose that information.

For Catholic priests, the confidentiality of such statements is absolute – even under threat of their own death or that of others. Canon Law states that a priest who breaches the Seal of the Confessional, incurs latae sententiae – i.e. automatic – excommunication. Paradoxically, a priest who commits an indictable criminal offence, such as sexual abuse of a minor, does not incur the same penalty. Instead, the evidence shows, usually his bishop quietly transfers the offender to another parish and rejects any complaints from aggrieved parents.

Further, no formally established code of practice, code of ethics, or specific practice guidelines at all exist for a priest when administering the Confessional.

Should Australian secular society in the 21st century, that accepts the rule of law, allow such practices to remain outside national legislative standards and professional requirements, aimed to ensure children’s safety, their wellbeing, and their right to protection from hideous crimes like sexual abuse?

Many established confidentiality regimes imposed in ”professional” and ”helping” situations, allow ”breaches” of confidence in order to avoid serious harm to, or save the life of, another. These confidentiality regimes consider such ”breaches” to be entirely proper and ethical. For example, the Australian Psychological Society code of ethics stipulates psychologists are obligated to disclose confidential information, without consent, when there is a legal obligation to do so (such as in a court action); or if the psychologist becomes aware of an immediate and specific risk of harm to an identifiable person or persons that can be averted only by disclosure of otherwise confidential information.

Similar requirements are stipulated within medical and legal arenas. All these professions are guided by strongly articulated ethical principles, which set out standards to guide both professional practitioners and members of the public as to what is considered ethical professional conduct. Not so for priests when taking your Confession.

Given the church’s repeated historical failures to be honest, accountable, and to reform itself, our children can now only be protected by legislative intervention. The Catholic Church has, scandalously, for many decades, offered little protection to vulnerable children. On the contrary, it has accepted unsafe environments where children were and are victimised and harmed; priestly perpetrators protected; and their crimes covered up and never reported.

The onus is now cast upon governments, state and federal, to extend mandatory reporting to all religious institutions across all religious rites and functions, where children are involved. No society can allow any organisation, solely under the guise of religious practice, to effectively ignore actual or threatened child abuse, while protecting perpetrators of horrific crimes.

In so far as information gained in the Confessional may assist in the apprehension of perpetrators, or protect children-at-risk, its regime of privileged secrecy should, on balance, give way to the overriding need to ensure safety of vulnerable children.

Like other professions, priests, and the hierarchy that employs them, should be placed under a clearly stated legal and ethical responsibility to maximise the safety and wellbeing of children in their care. The Confessional should be subject to a mandatory reporting regime to ensure any disclosure of the actual or potential abuse of children will be dutifully reported to, and investigated by, appropriate authorities.

Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen, QC, is a barrister and president of COIN, a group that advocates for justice and law reform in relation to victims of child abuse in religious contexts.

Dr Joseph Poznanski is a consultant psychologist specialising in trauma, and vice-president of COIN.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/confession-must-be-subject-to-mandatory-reporting-20140325-35gck.html#ixzz2xOo3YWOC

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