Is the Pope Telling Priests to Break Canadian Law about Reporting Sexual Abuse?
Canon
6 of the Council of Trent states that – ‘If any one saith, that it is not in man’s power to
make his ways evil, but that the works that are evil God worketh as well as
those that are good, not permissively only, but properly, and of Himself, in
such wise that the treason of Judas is no less His own proper work than the
vocation of Paul; let him be anathema.’
What Does Canon Law Have to Do with Canadian Law?
Around
the world, the Catholic Church has been embroiled in a sexual abuse crisis that
has seen legislators, politicians and sexual abuse advocates challenging the
legitimacy of the Catholic Church’s claim that statements made in confession
are confidential. This so-called seal of
confessional secrecy, according
to the Church, is the absolute
duty of priests not to disclose anything that is said to them during
confessions.
