Two bills proposed by state elected officials would remove the Catholic Church’s right to the “seal of confession” protecting priests’ right to refuse to provide private information divulged during confessionals, and Catholic advocates warn it could be a slippery slope when it comes to protections for religious freedom.
Delaware HB 74 and Vermont Sen. Bill 16 were introduced earlier this year by Democratic Rep. Eric Morrison and Democratic Sen. Richard Sears, respectively, to prevent child abuse, according to the bills’ texts. The legislation would amend state law to prohibit any clergy member from asserting the right to a privileged conversation during confessions if information about child abuse or neglect is revealed, but advocates warn it will not help prevent abuse and only deprive churches of their First Amendment rights. (RELATED: US Bishops Warn Against Catholic Doctors Performing ‘Gender Transition Procedures’)
“This is not the first time this has come up,” President of Catholic Action for Faith and Family Thomas McKenna told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “But what is at stake here is the real persecution of our Catholic faith because confession is not a therapy session…discussion or therapy group, because when a person comes to confession the priest is acting in the person of Christ. This would be a persecution of the Catholic church because a priest would go to jail before they would reveal someone’s sins.”
“Catholics see this as an act between them and God …and a First Amendment right to worship God.” Father Aquinas Guilbeau, a Dominican Friar and a fellow with the Institute for Human Ecology (IHE) told the DCNF.
