www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Can the Confessional ever be broken?

Something that I have been wondering for some time...

I know that confession is sacred and that in some states in the US, it is also protected by state law but are there any cases where a priest might feel he has to break it? Perhaps this is more geared towards the clerical members of the forum but anyone can chime in! If, for example, someone confesses to the murder of a child, should a priest feel free to tell the police or must the confession be maintained all the time?

Thanks

Anton

The clergy guidelines of the Orthodox Church in America unambiguously state that the confessional seal cannot be broken for any reason, governmental law or otherwise. One example they give is if a candidate for ordination confesses something that is an impediment to ordination, the confessor still cannot reveal it to anyone.

Priest Thomas

Dear Anton,

In the Roman Catholic Church, there have been times when confessors were directed to report cases of heresy.

St Charles Borromeo, for instance, ordered confessors under him to do this.

A priest from Poland once told me that a fellow came and confessed to him that he murdered his wife and buried her in their garden . . .

He then began to cry out loud, came out of the confessional and blurted out his crime to the entire congregation.

This was in communist times and although he confessed to murder, no one in the parish reported him to the police - they felt communist punishment wouldn't fit the crime apparently.

Alex

Distinguo: according to Catholic morals and canonical practice, what is said to the priest in the Holy Mystery of Repentance may not be repeated ever, to anybody, nor may the priest use any means at all to make it known. Whatever the priest may learn by hearing Confessions, it is as though he did not know it at all.
However, the Confessional - the piece of furniture called by that term - can certainly be broken, and the sooner the better. I'm sure our ecclesiastical wood-workers can find better use for the wood.
Christ is Risen!
Incognitus

As a sufferer of claustrophobia - those words, Incognitus , are a joy to hear .

Anhelyna

Also note that, in the Catholic Church, if a priest violates the seal of confession, for any reason, he is automatically excommunicated. There are only a handful of things so grave doing it automatically excommunicate someone, and this is one of them.

As to claustrophobia: in some parts of Europe one frequently finds Confessionals which are so constructed as to enclose the priest but not the penitent. This always strikes me as odd - surely the purpose of the Confessional is to protect the privacy of the penitent, not the privacy of the priest. Does anyone have an explanation for this phenomenon?
Christ is Risen!
Incognitus

Incognitus,

I have had this explained to me (by an Irish priest cousin) as intended to symbolize public penitance on the sinner's part and that the priest's identity is unimportant, as he - in granting absolution - is merely the instrument of God's mercy.

Many years,

Neil