Priests to break seal of the confessional to report child abuse admissions or face jail time
Despite a new law forcing priests to report allegations of child sexual abuse, Catholic Church leaders have said they would try to convince perpetrators to go to police instead of breaking the confessional seal.
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Viictoria’s health minister has savaged the Catholic Church over suggestions it would defy a new law forcing priests to report allegations of child sexual abuse revealed in confession.
Church leaders said on Wednesday the confessional seal cannot be broken and priests would instead try to convince perpetrators to go to police.
Melbourne’s most senior Catholic, Archbishop Peter Comensoli, told ABC Radio he was prepared to go to prison rather than break the confessional seal.
Last night he released a statement saying: “Confession doesn’t place people above the law”.
“Priests should be mandatory reporters, but in a similar way to protections to the lawyer/client relationship and protection for journalists’ sources,” he said.
But Health Minister Jenny Mikakos slammed the church’s stance.
“Clearly they’ve learnt nothing from the Royal Commission and the lives they’ve destroyed,” she said.
The Andrews Government legislation would see religious and spiritual leaders face three years in jail if they fail to report allegations of sexual abuse.
Laws have to pass both houses of state parliament, and Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said he wanted to see the detail of the bill.
“I’d like to think that in Victoria in 2019, we can make sure we can protect kids and we should also be able to respect freedom of religion,” he said.
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Chrissie Foster, who fought for years for compensation after her two daughters were abused by a Catholic priest, said there was “no excuse” for failure to report.
She pointed to the case of priest Michael McArdle, who told 30 priests he had abused children 1500 times before being jailed in 2003.
The Children Legislation Amendment Bill will also limit the right of appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal of murderers, rapists and other criminals rejected for working with children checks.
— With AAP