Skip to main content

Australia: Seal of the Confessional Outlawed at the Federal Level

Image
By
+
JMJ

This is simply another step in the attack on the Catholic Church. Interestingly, California's attempt to do the same failed.

P^3








Courtesy of FSSPX.news

Australia: Seal of the Confessional Outlawed at the Federal Level

December 19, 2019
Source: fsspx.news

On December 2, 2019, the Australian Conference of Bishops (ACBC) denounced the agreement between the Attorneys General of each state and the Australian federal government, with the aim of standardizing the laws imposing on priests the obligation to denounce any alleged fact of ill-treatment of minors that would be learned in the context of the sacrament of penance.
“Counterproductive and unjust” are the terms with which Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Archbishop of Brisbane and President of the ACBC, denounced the new prejudicial legal norms on the sacramental seal of the confessional in Australia.

The attorneys general and the federal government have in fact agreed on a common legal measures obliging priests to break the sacramental seal, under penalty of incurring criminal sanctions in the case of non-reporting of abuse of minors.

The new measures go even further: they provides that in the future, priests will no longer be able to hide behind the argument of professional secrecy in order to avoid testifying against a third party, during criminal or civil proceedings.

Provisions that go against the law of the Church, which stipulates that the sacramental seal is inviolable, and that it is moreover absolutely forbidden for a confessor to reveal in any way whatsoever the faults which a penitent has confessed.

Last October, questioned on a law of the State of Victoria promulgated against the seal of the confessional, the archbishop of Melbourne, Msgr. Peter Comensoli, had already warned that he would himself violate the new standards in force.

A month earlier, Msgr. Julian Porteous, Bishop of Hobart in Tasmania, began this episcopal movement of resistance, upon the adoption in September 2019 of a similar law, declaring that “there can be no exception to the inviolability of the seal of the confessional.”
If one priest was to break it the faithful would lose confidence that what they confess could be made public or used against them,
said the prelate.


(Sources : Catholic News Agency/The Australian - FSSPX.Actualités - 16/12/2019)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is it sinful to attend the Novus Ordo (New Mass) - Is it Sinful to Not Attend the Novus Ordo on Sunday?

By
+ JMJ A non-SSPX Catholic is upset over the SSPX statements on not attending the Novus Ordo Missae. Ladies and gentlemen, what the SSPX, or at least its website editor, is advocating is a mortal sin against the Third Commandment.  Unless the priest deviates from the language of the Sacramentary, the consecration, and thus the rest of Mass is to be considered valid.  No one may elect not to attend Mass simply because abuses are occurring therein.  Might I suggest that such absenteeism is its own abuse?  The Third Commandment binds under mortal sin.  Father So-And-So from the SSPX has no authority whatsoever to excuse attendance at Mass, be that Mass ever so unpalatable. Source:Restore DC Catholicism Well, this is interesting. First why does the SSPX issue this statement? Because it is sinful to put your faith in danger by attending a protestant service.  It is likewise dangerous to put your faith in danger by attending a protestantized mass (ie the Novus Ordo Missae
Post a Comment
Read more

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

By
+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3
Post a Comment
Read more

Magisterium and Levels of Assent

By
+ JMJ Understanding the levels of assent to be given to the teachings of the Church is a critical success factor in walking the knife's edge during this crisis of the Church.  The levels of assent are generally associated with the theological grades of certainty, which are not surprisingly mirrored by the censures for contravening the teachings of the various levels.
Post a Comment
Read more

War: Families

By
 + JMJ  It is unavoidable that the conflict between the Church and the World will ... inspite of the Church basically surrendering to the World during and after the Second Vatican Council ... enter the family. First, it is unlikely that an entire family will be "Traditional Catholic". This will lead to conflict between the various "sides" of the family.  Next there is the impact of the world around them.  In other words, you can't keep your children out of the world indefinitely. There are so many pressures and stessors that work against keeping the Catholic Life that it seems that heroic virtue is needed in this day and age. A final aspect is related to the second.  Their companions, especially if they are not Catholic. In some cases you may hope that your children will influence instead of be influenced. In this case you will have to intervene if they are underage and if adults, pray and act prudently. With all these forces stacked up against you, the best you
Post a Comment
Read more