2 ms·

Does the Church feel that not reporting is OK if it could cause say a child to continue to be abused if the police never find out? Truly trying to understand ho

Does the Church feel that not reporting is OK if it could cause say a child to continue to be abused if the police never find out? Truly trying to understand how that moral position is resolved. I would be beside myself if I knew I did nothing to try to stop it including reporting to authorities to have the person arrested

Levitz 1y ago
If the Church felt it was ok to report it, they wouldn't find themselves in the position to report to begin with. The point of the confession is the privacy itself and it might be the case that through this method more abusers confess and the whole thing is a net good for the world.
harimau777 1y ago
I think that the Catholic Church would argue that violating confidentiality could lead to people not confessing not only now but in the future. That in turn could lead to numerous souls suffering in hell for eternity. Certainly people who don't share the Catholic Church's religious beliefs may not agree, but it does seem logical that eternal suffering in hell would outweigh temporary suffering during life; even something as horrible as child sexual abuse. I imagine that priests in that situation would pay a heavy psychological toll for maintaining confidentiality. However, they believe that in the long run it is the best, most moral course of action.
- Tadpole9181 1y ago
  If I believed I would go to Hell if I didn't skin a cat on a monthly basis, nobody would give me an exception from animal cruelty laws. If a father confesses he is sexually abusing their child, the priest has an obligation to report it. Let the father burn in Hell (he's a child abuser anyway, that's what it's for isn't it?) or the priest decide to be an accomplice to the crime.
rawgabbit 1y ago
The issue is privileged communication such as attorney client communications and clergy believer confessional. Currently that is protected under law. Outside of the confessional, church officials acting as teachers, counselors, administrators, care givers are already obliged to report potential abuse.
- Tadpole9181 1y ago
  If a lawyer knows about ongoing or future crimes, they are not shielded and that information loses privilege. They only get privilege for past crimes. They have an obligation to report it or be an accessory.
  - rawgabbit 1y ago
    And your point is? Furthermore, this article from Georgetown defines this exception to the attorney client privilege more narrowly. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/american-criminal-law-review/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/04/60-2_Parisi_Shedding-Light.pdf https://www.law.georgetown.edu/american-criminal-law-review/... To invoke the crime-fraud exception, the party seeking disclosure of an adver- sary’s attorney-client communications “must make a prima facie showing (1) the client was committing or intending to commit a fraud or crime, and (2) the attor- ney-client communications were in furtherance of that alleged crime or fraud.”
rawgabbit 1y ago
You can read the USCCB statement here. https://www.usccb.org/committees/religious-liberty/religious-liberty-backgrounder-seal-confessional https://www.usccb.org/committees/religious-liberty/religious...

Levitz 1y ago

If the Church felt it was ok to report it, they wouldn't find themselves in the position to report to begin with. The point of the confession is the privacy itself and it might be the case that through this method more abusers confess and the whole thing is a net good for the world.

harimau777 1y ago

I think that the Catholic Church would argue that violating confidentiality could lead to people not confessing not only now but in the future. That in turn could lead to numerous souls suffering in hell for eternity. Certainly people who don't share the Catholic Church's religious beliefs may not agree, but it does seem logical that eternal suffering in hell would outweigh temporary suffering during life; even something as horrible as child sexual abuse. I imagine that priests in that situation would pay a heavy psychological toll for maintaining confidentiality. However, they believe that in the long run it is the best, most moral course of action.

Tadpole9181 1y ago
If I believed I would go to Hell if I didn't skin a cat on a monthly basis, nobody would give me an exception from animal cruelty laws. If a father confesses he is sexually abusing their child, the priest has an obligation to report it. Let the father burn in Hell (he's a child abuser anyway, that's what it's for isn't it?) or the priest decide to be an accomplice to the crime.

rawgabbit 1y ago

The issue is privileged communication such as attorney client communications and clergy believer confessional. Currently that is protected under law. Outside of the confessional, church officials acting as teachers, counselors, administrators, care givers are already obliged to report potential abuse.

Tadpole9181 1y ago
If a lawyer knows about ongoing or future crimes, they are not shielded and that information loses privilege. They only get privilege for past crimes. They have an obligation to report it or be an accessory.
- rawgabbit 1y ago
  And your point is? Furthermore, this article from Georgetown defines this exception to the attorney client privilege more narrowly. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/american-criminal-law-review/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/04/60-2_Parisi_Shedding-Light.pdf https://www.law.georgetown.edu/american-criminal-law-review/... To invoke the crime-fraud exception, the party seeking disclosure of an adver- sary’s attorney-client communications “must make a prima facie showing (1) the client was committing or intending to commit a fraud or crime, and (2) the attor- ney-client communications were in furtherance of that alleged crime or fraud.”

rawgabbit 1y ago

You can read the USCCB statement here. https://www.usccb.org/committees/religious-liberty/religious-liberty-backgrounder-seal-confessional https://www.usccb.org/committees/religious-liberty/religious...