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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Using confession to face up to crimes | Using confession to face up to crimes |
| (5 months later) | |
| Letters | |
| Sun 20 Aug 2017 19.31 BST | |
| Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 18.15 GMT | |
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| As a (sinful) Anglo-Catholic priest, I, too, would never disclose anything said to me during the sacrament of confession (or reconciliation, as many now prefer to call it), even under threat of prosecution (Confession is sacrosanct, Joanna Moorhead, 17 August). | As a (sinful) Anglo-Catholic priest, I, too, would never disclose anything said to me during the sacrament of confession (or reconciliation, as many now prefer to call it), even under threat of prosecution (Confession is sacrosanct, Joanna Moorhead, 17 August). |
| However, the confessor is at liberty to prescribe an act of penance, and this could surely include, in cases such as child abuse, domestic violence, or murder, for example, a promise to seek professional help, or even an admission of guilt to the appropriate authorities, before any further absolving could be given. In this way, all consciences would be respected and sacrilegiousness avoided.Fr Alec MitchellManchester | However, the confessor is at liberty to prescribe an act of penance, and this could surely include, in cases such as child abuse, domestic violence, or murder, for example, a promise to seek professional help, or even an admission of guilt to the appropriate authorities, before any further absolving could be given. In this way, all consciences would be respected and sacrilegiousness avoided.Fr Alec MitchellManchester |
| • As a Catholic myself I know exactly where Joanna Moorhead is coming from. She is correct in asserting that the confessional is sacrosanct and what is said there stays there. Once this sacred ritual is compromised in this way, it would be the death knell of all that we hold dear. | • As a Catholic myself I know exactly where Joanna Moorhead is coming from. She is correct in asserting that the confessional is sacrosanct and what is said there stays there. Once this sacred ritual is compromised in this way, it would be the death knell of all that we hold dear. |
| The very idea of prosecuting priests is anathema and should be strongly condemned as the confessional is the last bastion where people can repent and express genuine sorrow for their sins. Priests in this way have a huge burden to carry but if they can influence perpetrators of these heinous crimes to seek help or give themselves in, so much the better. | The very idea of prosecuting priests is anathema and should be strongly condemned as the confessional is the last bastion where people can repent and express genuine sorrow for their sins. Priests in this way have a huge burden to carry but if they can influence perpetrators of these heinous crimes to seek help or give themselves in, so much the better. |
| But I would say that to unburden to a priest is a proactive way forward and hopefully means that the perpetrators have taken ownership of the seriousness of their crimes and will do their utmost to change their life and behaviour in the future.Judith DanielsGreat Yarmouth, Norfolk | But I would say that to unburden to a priest is a proactive way forward and hopefully means that the perpetrators have taken ownership of the seriousness of their crimes and will do their utmost to change their life and behaviour in the future.Judith DanielsGreat Yarmouth, Norfolk |
| • Joanna Moorhead defends the primacy of confessional confidentiality with the perverse conceit that any other arrangement – for example, a legal obligation on priests to report confessions of child abuse to the authorities – would “deny our humanity”. | • Joanna Moorhead defends the primacy of confessional confidentiality with the perverse conceit that any other arrangement – for example, a legal obligation on priests to report confessions of child abuse to the authorities – would “deny our humanity”. |
| This is nothing more than a reaffirmation of a longstanding policy within the Catholic church – that any concern for abuse victims is always mediated by institutional self-interest, with justice set aside, or even obstructed, in the service of church dogma.Henry ThompsonHarrogate | This is nothing more than a reaffirmation of a longstanding policy within the Catholic church – that any concern for abuse victims is always mediated by institutional self-interest, with justice set aside, or even obstructed, in the service of church dogma.Henry ThompsonHarrogate |
| • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com | • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com |
| • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters | • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters |
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