“The Seal of Confession” is the principle that when penitents confess their sins to a priest or a pastor, whatever is confessed is strictly confidential and may never be told to anyone else, including governmental authorities.
If a Catholic priest violates the seal, he will be immediately excommunicated. Lutherans don’t go that far, but pastors do make a similar commitment in their ordination vows. Clergy in other traditions do also.
Most state laws recognize the seal of confession and do not require members of the clergy to report illegal behavior or testify about it in court when told about it in the course of pastoral counseling.
But now the state of Montana is considering a bill that would explicitly take away the clergy exemption of the seal of confession in cases of child abuse.
From the Catholic News Agency:
The proposed bill would “eliminate clergy exemption in mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect.” It states that clergy and others in the mandatory reporting group such as medical practitioners and social workers “may not refuse to make a report as required … on the grounds of a physician-patient or similar privilege.”
While clergy are often mandatory reporters outside of the confessional, long-standing legal precedent in the U.S. recognizes the religious freedom of confessors and penitents to be exempt from those rules.
Clergy members are already mandatory reporters of child abuse or neglect in Montana, though current Montana law upholds the priest-penitent privilege, requiring that “a member of the clergy or priest may not, without the consent of the person making the confession, be examined as to any confession made to the individual.”
The sacramental seal of confession in the Catholic Church strictly prohibits priests from sharing anything a penitent says during the sacrament of reconciliation. Any priest who “directly violates the sacramental seal” incurs excommunication, according to the Code of Canon Law (Canon 1386).
My understanding is that the best Catholic practice when a penitent confesses a crime is to withhold absolution unless the penitent surrenders to the authorities. I don’t think that would work in a Protestant context. I don’t think a Lutheran pastor would withhold absolution to a penitent, though the power of the keys can bind as well as loose, so I don’t know.
And, of course, a sinner who repents may be forgiven directly by God, so most Protestants don’t practice confession and absolution, though ministers may still hear things in the course of pastoral counseling that may be highly sensitive and that need to be kept confidential.
Child abuse, though, involves the safety of a child, so perhaps some exemptions are in order. Perhaps other exemptions would also be in order.
My questions for your input and discussion: Is this a religious liberty issue? It would seem to be for Catholic priests, at least, since their religion puts such a high store on the seal of confession, to the point of casting violators out of the religion. How about for other clergy members?
Should there be exceptions to the seal?
Would you agree with the Montana bill?
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In