The Seal and the State

 The state of Washington today instituted a new law which claims to seek protection for victims of child abuse; however in reality is a bill that seeks to compel clergy to violate pastor-penitent privilege in order to gain information.  On the surface, and indeed according to the supposedly Catholic governor of Washington state; it would seem a noble thing that there is now a law which requires clergy to break the seal of confession to report any and all instances of abuse brought to the confessional.  In reality though, such a law not only violates federal law ensuring free practice of religion; it also violates the constitution of the United States, which ensures a separation of church and state and also freedom of religious observance.  

The long and the short of the sacrament of confession is this- no matter what sins may be uttered, what horrors of a past life divulged; the sins that are brought to the foot of the cross in confession do not belong to the priest who offers absolution in Christ's name: they are not his to hold, and they are most certainly not his to tell to others of.  If you knew that your pastor was telling people all the things that you had mentioned to him in confession, how scandalized would you be, and how fast would you run from God and the church?  The seal of confession exists so that all manner and estates of men may come to Christ and find true forgiveness and repentance for their sins.  Yes there are those who claim that "you can confess directly to God", but this flies in the face of what we are told by the plain word of scripture in the epistle of St. James, when he saith "Confess your faults, one to another."  It also goes against the very penitential act of seeking forgiveness that confession entails by its presence.   There is no greater way to express the sincerity of one's desire for forgiveness; than that we should find ourselves physically, verbally admitting in the presence of a minister of Christ- what we have done and what we have left undone.   The very sacrament of confession itself is inherently penitential; so that by the action of confession one's heart and soul may be cleansed, and the mind put at ease, confident in the redemption promised by Christ our Savior.  

To order clergy to violate this most intimate sacrament, is an affront to not only Christ; but to the dignity of the Christian people who look to the church for their consolation and communion with the Divine.  There are those who will argue that if the church has nothing to hide, then this shouldn't be an issue.  However keep in mind that even in Los Angeles California, who experienced the largest and most costly settlement between church and accusers of abuse; that the abuse proclaimed of the church pales in comparison to the settlement that Los Angeles County has recently paid out to juvenile victims of abuse at its juvenile detention and housing facilities.  If the state is seeking out people to coerce into "mandatory reporting" of abuse; it should seek to get its own house in order, before seeking to steal from the church sins that have been forgiven and do not belong to them.  

As a priest myself, I would never and will never violate the seal of confession.  Whatever is confessed in my presence is solely between God and the child who seeks his forgiveness; and is not mine to dole out in statements to press or politician.  And if it need be that I go to prison or even to my own death for refusing to divulge the sins of men that God has absolved in His divine Grace; then so be it.   The sacraments will be defended to the last of my breath and beyond, God willing and his Grace enabling.  

-Here Endeth the Lesson-