Catholic Church will Never Violate Seal of Confession: Vatican Official
August 2, 2011: The regent of the Holy See’s apostolic penitentiary, Archbishop Gianfranco
Girotti, firmly stated that the Catholic Church will never divulge the confession
of a penitent. He was reacting to the proposed new law in Ireland. On July 14, Irish
Prime Minister Enda Kenny promised to introduce a new law that would establish a prison
sentence of five years for priests who do not inform civil authorities about cases
of sexual abuse revealed to them in confession. “Ireland can pass whatever laws
it wants, but it must know that the Church will never submit to forcing confessors
to inform civil officials,” said the Archbishop.
The proposed law contradicts
Canon Law, which defends the inviolability of the seal of confession and prohibits
confessors from breaking it. Archbishop Girotti said, “A confessor who breaks the
seal of confession is subject to automatic excommunication by the Church,” and therefore
the proposed measure is “absurd and unacceptable.” “Confession is a private affair
that allows the penitent to amend and purify himself. The seal is a necessary condition,”
he said. “If they want to violate confession, the Church’s answer will always be no.”