Australia church abuse: Priests 'must report' confessions

[Ravenshire]

Catholic clerics should face criminal charges if they do not report sexual abuse disclosed to them during confession, an Australian inquiry has recommended

The inquiry had heard harrowing tales of abuse, which were never passed on to the relevant authorities.
The Church has indicated it will oppose altering the rules around confession.  (why???)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-40920714

It's because a big part of confession's defining characteristic is that it remain 100% confidential. If a person confesses a horrible crime they have committed, the priest's responsibility is to guide that person to take ownership with the law, as penance. But they cannot reveal to anyone anything that was said to them in the confessional, no matter how bad it was. The confidentiality of it is part of the sacrement.

And of course, it can also be argued that the people who confess to crimes in a confessional but don't turn themselves over to police, would never have confessed in the first place if they were not promised confidentiality. Making confession not confidential anymore would just mean no one would confess to crimes anyway, defeating the whole purpose of this proposed law.

I've always found this belief in the sovereignty of confession to be more than a little naive. People who commit heinous crimes are not going to turn themselves over to the authorities because their local shaman told them to. That leaves said shaman guilty as an accessory.

Really it's no wonder that protecting the criminal and punishing the victims has been the MO of the church for such a long time now. After all, it's criminals protecting other criminals.