Priests in other countries not exempt from reporting sex abuse

Compelling priests to report sexual abuse heard in confessionals follows international precedents.

About 28 states across the US include members of the clergy among those professionals specifically mandated by law to report known or suspected instances of child abuse or neglect

Recommendations by the child sex abuse royal commission that would compel priests to report sexual abuse even if their knowledge of it was obtained during confession follows international precedents set by other countries, including Ireland.

Judge Peter McClellan yesterday recommended that all Australian states and territories introduce legislation that would make it a criminal offence for ­people to fail to report child sexual abuse in an institutional setting.

Clergy who find out about sexual abuse during a religious confession would not be exempt.

A similar recommendation was made during Ireland’s commission of inquiry into child sex abuse in 2009, which also found that the so-called “seal” of the confessional should be broken in cases concerning child abuse.

The Irish report drew on the testimony of nearly 2000 witnesses who attended more than 200 Catholic-run schools from the 1930s through to the 90s.

The findings of the report led to the introduction of legislation that requires priests to report abuse ­admitted in confession or face up to five years in jail. Mandatory ­reporting became law in November 2015.

About 28 states across the US include members of the clergy among those professionals specifically mandated by law to report known or suspected instances of child abuse or neglect.

Among those states, however, not all mandate that the seal of the confessional be broken in cases of child abuse.

Guam, New Hampshire, and West Virginia deny the clergy-penitent privilege in cases of child abuse or neglect. Four of the states which dictate “any person” as a mandated reporter (including North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Texas) also deny clergy-penitent privilege in child abuse cases.

After the sexual abuse scandal in the Boston archdiocese, which in part led to the uncovering of an international scandal within the Catholic Church, Massachusetts legislation still upholds the privacy of the confessional.

Priests, rabbis, clergy members, ordained or licensed ministers, and leaders of a church or religious body are exempt from reporting information “solely gained in a confession”.

Other mandatory reporters in Massachusetts, including medical professionals and teachers, who wilfully fail to report abuse or ­neglect can face a fine of up to $5000 or imprisonment for up to 2½ years.

New York State senator ­Andrew Lanza introduced a bill in April to amend the social services law in relation to the reporting of child abuse to including all members of the clergy.