Catholic Child Abuse and Confession

[AJD48]

Catholic Child Abuse and Confession

A host of legal cases have well-documented what the Catholic Church does to priests who sexually abuse (i.e., rape) young children: it moves them to another parish where they can rape again.

For comparison, here’s how the Church treats a priest who violates the “seal of confession”, that is, who reveals something he learned from someone confessing sins in the confessional.

It’s from http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0059.html I’ve added some comments in curly brackets.

What happens if a priest violates the seal of confession? The Catechism (No. 1467) cites the Code of Canon Law (No. 1388.1) in addressing this issue, which states, "A confessor who directly violates the seal of confession incurs an automatic excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; if he does so only indirectly, he is to be punished in accord with the seriousness of the offense." From the severity of the punishment, we can clearly see how sacred the sacramental seal of confession is in the eyes of the Church.

{And from the lack of punishment for priests who rape young children we can clearly see what little value they have in the eyes of the Church.}

Actually, the Church's position in this matter has long-standing credibility. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) produced one of the first comprehensive teachings concerning the Sacrament of Penance. . . . The council decreed, "Let the confessor take absolute care not to betray the sinner through word or sign, or in any other way whatsoever. In case he needs expert advice he may seek it without, however, in any way indicating the person. For we decree that he who presumes to reveal a sin which has been manifested to him in the tribunal of penance is not only to be deposed from the priestly office, but also to be consigned to a closed monastery for perpetual penance."

{The penalty for violating the seal of confession was to be removed as a priest and sent to a cloistered monastery for life-long penance, said the Fourth Lateran Council. What penalty have Church councils decreed for child rape? As far as I can tell, they ignore the issue. And priest who rape children are not deposed from priestly office and sent to a monastery, but sent to rape again in another parish.}

{Judging by the punishment, a priest who violates the seal of confession troubles the Church more than a priest who rapes children.}

[damyank913]

1. It's understandable that the violation of the sanctity of confession is a worse crime...

How do you think they've been able to keep a lid on this pedophile scandal? Maybe they should go back to issuing "Indulgences".