Breaking The Seal Of Confession

[PilgrimageOfGrace]

I want them to try -- it will force the lukewarm Clergy to make a choice..will they or will they not collaborate?

[Strictlyinkblot]

[quote name='Basilisa Marie' timestamp='1340067014' post='2446070']
Huh. Interesting.

For the record, I'm not planning on murdering my sister.
[/quote]

That's good to know.

[Noel's angel]

It's kinda old news over here. It all seems to have blown over.

[cappie]

The "Seal" which applies to the confessor does not apply in the same way to the penitent, even if the penitent is a priest. A person can reveal he contents of his own confession and what the priest says.

That said, it is probably better for the penitent not to speak too much about what occurs in the confessional under normal circumstances. The less said about concrete instances of the sacrament of penance the better.

There are some exception to this, if a priest gave a particularly good piece of advice, perhaps that might be shared if you were not also going to reveal your own sins as a result. Otherwise, if a priest were to do something outrageously stupid or attempt a crime or the like, the penitent could and should address himself to the priest’s superior about what happened. The difficulty is, of course, that the priest remains bound by the seal and it could wind up being a matter of the word of penitent "A" against Fr. "B".

So, a penitent can speak of his own confession and the advice and penance received, but in normal circumstances it is better to leave it for the most part in silence.

[fides' Jack]

I saw this and thought "Oh! Cappie weighed in on this one - I want to see what he said!"

[Brother Adam]

Yes. Also, the canonical penalty is different if you hear someone else's confession, are not the priest, and break the seal, rather than if you are a priest and break the seal.

[cappie]

[quote name='Brother Adam' timestamp='1340228383' post='2446837']
Yes. Also, the canonical penalty is different if you hear someone else's confession, are not the priest, and break the seal, rather than if you are a priest and break the seal.
[/quote]

Now all of us know that the seal of the confessional is absolutely inviolable for the priest who hears the confession (c. 983). The seal binds the confessor under threat of excommunication [i]latae sententiae[/i] (c. 1388.1). Not so for an interpreter present at the confession, or for someone who overhears a confession, or who comes to a knowledge of sins from a confession. The latter are bound, under pain of sin and of penalty (c. 1388.2), to observe secrecy. But the difference is really a technical one. The direct divulging of the secrets of the confessional by others is punishable by a penalty not excluding excommunication because it’s a nefarious thing to do. Even if unpunished by ecclesiastical authority for whatever reason, to divulge what someone has confessed in the sacrament remains matter for sin. Obviously, the priest who hears, judges and absolves the penitnent has the greatest responsibility. In practical terms, however, that secrecy also affects everyone else.

[url="http://musingsofacanonist.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/forgive-me-father-for-i-have-sinned/"]http://musingsofacanonist.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/forgive-me-father-for-i-have-sinned/[/url]

[Ice_nine]

so putting my ear up to the door is not ok?

[RandomProddy]

[quote name='Strictlyinkblot' timestamp='1339798493' post='2445200']
Within that speech he insisted that any priest who learnt of a child being abused under the seal of confession had to break that seal.

The government is now trying to put this into law.
[/quote]

If a lawyer learns that his client has abused a child is he compelled to make that public?

[Norseman82]

[quote name='Brother Adam' timestamp='1340116266' post='2446270']
Did you just tell a church scholar they are wrong?
[/quote]

Just as I would tell someone with a PhD in mathematics that he would be wrong if he said that 2+2=5.

[Strictlyinkblot]

[quote name='RandomProddy' timestamp='1340317575' post='2447217']
If a lawyer learns that his client has abused a child is he compelled to make that public?
[/quote]

Not at the moment but there is an argument that says that this law could force lawyers to break attorney client priviledge if a client revealed something like this