Australia church abuse: Priests 'must report' confessions

[Shell B]

So, the not truly sorry people are left to prey upon more children. That's the problem with the system of confession. I understand what it's supposed to be. I understand that people won't confess without anonymity, but adults really should have a responsibility to protect victims whenever possible. Knowledge of a person's crimes counts as one of those situations.

[Mr.wizard]

Well the issue is should priests be subject to the same laws as other people are, when it comes to reporting crimes and I think they should be.

[Anomalocaris]

CL:  

What value is a confession where the confessee has no intention of making meaning restitution and take socially mandated consequences for his crime?

It's only purpose is to allow the confessee to undeservedly feel better about himself while leaving the victim just as victimized and uncompensated before, while the church benefits from this grotesque transaction by binding the criminal more closely to the self-aggrandizing, self enriching purpose of the church.

Except when the priest instructs the confessee to turn themselves in, they are required to do so if they want their confession to be valid. You need to be truly sorry for what you have done in order to be forgiven in confession. If you are truly sorry for a crime, you will turn yourself in. If you don't, that means you weren't truly sorry and therefore won't be forgiven.

And if they don't turn themselves in?

And what good is the empty gesture of airily proclaiming the criminal Unforgiven when the victim still wait in vain, in church facilitate vain, for justice and compensation?

The victim deserves to keep on being uncompensated, while justice deserves to keep on being unserved, if the criminal is not truly sorry and ignored the kindly suggestion by the happy priest to turn himself in?

Isn't somewhat perverse for the church to be more concerned that the criminal who is not truly sorry is shielded from his just punishment in this world, then whether his victim could benefit from a system of compensation this world has taken, though no help of the church, taken centuries to develop?

[SteelCurtain]

How about when the children confess to feeling like they've wronged god by engaging in sex with a priest (read -- were raped and manipulated) ?

Is the sanctity of confession still important there?

[LastPoet]

It is a pointless bullshit that even some criminals believe in.

They are not taking responsability. Confessing to a priest believing in a fantasy resolves to nothing but feeling good about oneself.

The priest can call upon his god all that he wants to help the confessor. His actions by doctrine are useless. And is leaving a victym in fear of whats still out there.

Sacrament? Meaningless in face of the evidence.

[LastPoet]

And so what, if people stop confessing at all? In my eyes it is equal to confessing. It is obsolete. A silly notion.

[Ravenshire]

It's not surprising. The whole "point" of confession is that it stays anonymous. Of course, priests should not be above the law. If it's against the law to be aware of a certain crime and not tell someone, then priests should be treated to the same.

A little accessory after the fact would be good for the RCC. Force them to clean up their own messes a little, maybe.

[Succubus]

This whole story is based on confession and the right the church has to keep that confession silent...

And who gives the church that right? Why it's the church of course. Whatever progress the secular movement has made over these last years is nothing, Nothing! compared to the power that disgusting abomination of of a church still wields.
If you are a catholic and you are aware of the contents of the Ryan Commission report and you are "still" a member of the catholic church; then you are an enabler. You're not as guilty as the child raping priests, but you are responsible to some degree for the indifference the church exhibits towards the suffering of children in its care. If you put money in the collection plates, you are an enabler. 

<Snip>
 

The Irish Times called the report "a devastating indictment of Church and State authorities, "the map of an Irish hell." "The sheer scale and longevity of the torment inflected on defenceless children – over 800 known abusers in over 200 Catholic institutions during a period of 35 years – should alone make it clear that it was not accidental or opportunistic but systematic. Abuse was not a failure of the system. It was the system."

<Snip>

The report itself cannot be used for criminal proceedings (in part because the  Christian Brothers successfully sued the commission to prevent its members from being named in the report) and victims say they feel "cheated and deceived" by the lack of prosecutions, and "because of that this inquiry is deeply flawed, it's incomplete and many might call it a whitewash."

How many of those disgusting bastards are now in jail? None! I fear the Aussie enquiry will fare no better with regard to bringing these bastards to justice.
The catholic church is still one of the most powerful organisations on the planet.

[Drich]

Glob...

This whole story is based on confession and the right the church has to keep that confession silent...

You mean - the right the church has to protect child rapists.

Are you so foolish to think that only priest commit crimes and confess to other priests? I know you've probably baked most of your brain cells but if you think real hard you might see a broader application that could have very deep and long reaching implications for everyone of that religion.

If Government can undermine a sacrament or interfere with how religion works then you've just given up a core right to believe what you want. Which is all fine and good now, but what happenes in 40 years whe the morality pendul

Now what happens when the gub-ment can force the church to reveal anyone's confessions? People will simply stop confessing.

Good.

So then what happens when soceity swings and these laws are implace and your morality is now what is on the chopping block?

Now at least you have some over site and some disciplinary action taken from with in the church, force the confessions.. you will have nothing.

No - now we have nothing. Pedophiles "disciplining" pedophiles - that's something only brainwashed morons would call justice. F*ck the confessions - the church is going to have to find some other ways to spy on its flock.

Not everyone in the church is a pedophile, and if you remember a little while back pope what's his face defrock like 400 priests world wide, which is all but painting a scarlet A on their faces for society to seek their vengeance...

But I guess blood thirsty douche bags don't remember stuff like that.

[brewer]

Sounds like a perfect excuse for priest blackmail.