Michelle James: Catholics must break confessional seal

ARCHBISHOP Philip Wilson's conviction for concealing child sex abuse has returned the spotlight to the Catholic Church's continuing refusal to report allegations of abuse raised in the confessional, writes Michelle James.

MUCH has been made about the implications of a court ruling against Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson, with Wilson becoming the world’s most senior Catholic to be charged with concealing child sexual abuse.

Significantly though, this ruling has again also put the spotlight on the Catholic Church’s continuing and unacceptable refusal to act on the Royal Commission’s recommendations to report allegations of abuse raised in the confessional.

While the Catholic Church may stubbornly maintain that acting on confessional allegations is complex, the fact remains that the Royal Commission’s recommendations regarding these issues could not have been clearer.

This includes that those practising in “religious ministries” should not be exempt from a requirement to report knowledge, or even suspicions, about abuse because that information is gleaned from a religious confession.

A further recommendation was that the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference should publish advice received from the Vatican about how to deal with disclosures of abuse by children in the confessional, and by perpetrators.

Archbishop Philip Wilson outside the Newcastle Local Court in Newcastle this week. He has been found guilty of concealing historical child sexual abuse. (Pic: Peter Lorimer)

They are serious recommendations, made overwhelmingly in the interests of child safety.

So how has the Catholic Church responded?

Following the Royal Commission’s recommendations, Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart said he’d rather risk going to jail than report things heard in the confessional, saying that “communication with God is of a higher order”.

Hart, also a former President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC), went further still — prioritising being a member of the Church over the safety of children or dealing with a perpetrator, saying that “The penalty for any priest breaking the seal [of the confessional] is excommunication, being cast out of the church, so it’s a real, serious, spiritual matter”. The Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, has also warned against changing the rules around confessional.

The newly appointed President of the ACBC, Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge is on record as saying that the confessional should be treated differently “because the penitent speaks not to the priest but to God, with the priest only a mediator”.

The Catholic Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council — responsible for co-ordinating the Catholic Church’s response to the Royal Commission — said its position on maintaining an exemption for reporting information relating to child sexual abuse revealed in the confessional had not changed.

Instead of acting, the Catholic Church continues to show that it has not learned the lessons of the past.

Indeed, even today Archbishop Wilson, himself a former President of the ACBC, has said he will “stand aside” from his duties as archbishop, and that he will only permanently resign as archbishop if it becomes “necessary or appropriate”.

Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson has said he will stand down from his role, but has not resigned. (Pic: Calum Robertson)

Such a response begs the question about what the implications may be if States and Territories legislated for mandatory reporting in such circumstances, and more importantly what it will take to force the Church to act, if not even the ruling of a court leads to appropriate responsibility being taken?

The Church for its part continues to bury its head in the sand, flagrantly ignoring the Royal Commission’s recommendations and vigorously defending the sanctity of the confessional at all costs, while paying lip service to its obligations to protect children.

With the courts now stepping in to hold those who conceal child abuse to account, it is obvious that the Church’s continued “do nothing” response to reporting concerns raised in the confessional is completely untenable.

It is well past time that the Catholic Church put its obligations to children first.

State and Federal Governments must also be prepared to take tougher action to force their hand if they refuse, including consideration of stripping the tax deductibility status of the Church.

After the Catholic Church’s many repeated failures to act of its own accord in doing the right thing, it is evident that only a strong approach — including legislation or financial penalties if necessary — will do.

Michelle James is the national head of Abuse Law at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers.

 

Originally published as Michelle James: Catholics must break confessional seal