Acting head of Adelaide Catholic Church says new child protection law won’t apply to it

THE acting head of the Catholic Church in South Australia says he and his fellow priests will not abide by new laws that will put the safety of children first by shattering the secrecy of the confessional.

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THE acting head of the Catholic Church in South Australia says he and his fellow priests will not abide by new laws that remove the secrecy of the confessional.

As revealed by the The Advertiser this week, the Catholic Church was left blindsided over law changes that could result in priests breaking the law if they do not report child abuse made in the course of a confession, under the “seal of the confessional”.

SA will become the first state to axe the protections long afforded to religious leaders in October, which has received the support of Adelaide’s Anglican Archbishop Geoffrey Smith.

But the man who is leading the Archdiocese of Adelaide after a NSW court convicted Archbishop Phillip Wilson of hiding child sex abuse, Bishop Greg O’Kelly, said the change in law did “not affect us”.

Acting head of the Catholic Church in Adelaide Bishop Greg O’Kelly.

“We have an understanding of the seal of confession that is in the area of the sacred,” the Administrator of the Archdiocese told ABC Radio.

“Politicians can change the law but we can’t change the nature of the confessional, which is a sacred encounter between a penitent and someone seeking forgiveness and a priest representing Christ. That does not change by the law of politicians.”

Bishop O’Kelly said the Church would continue to do everything it could for child protection but if someone admitted they had abused a child while in confession, they could not report that person.

“We can urge that person to go out,” he said. “ ... paedophiles don’t come to confession and would you expect a paedophile to come to confession knowing that the priest is immediately going to report them?”

Not reporting abuse will carry a maximum $10,000 fine, and brings expectations of priests in line with the likes of social workers, teachers and medical professionals.

A statement from the Attorney-General’s Department said authorities intended to follow up instances where the law has been broken, and prosecution may result.

“Where there is clear evidence to indicate a minister of religion ... has failed to abide by their mandatory reporting requirements, the matter would need to be investigated by authorities, with further action - including prosecution - taken as appropriate,” it read.

Archbishop Geoffrey Smith said the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide believed it was more important to do “absolutely everything we can to protect children than to protect the seal of the confessional”.

- with AAP