Talk:Seal of confession in the Catholic Church

message: I recall hearing on the BBC (forget which program) that since the 1960's, priests have been using this seal on child victims of sexual abuse to silence them on threat of excommunication, while the priests involved were punished much less harshly.  
Can anyone find any corroboration with this?  If true, this would be an important topic to add to this subject, perhaps in an 'abuse' section.
--66.192.106.72 16:50, 6 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Your comment doesn't really make any sense. This article is about the Seal of the Confessional - it is about priests not repeating what is said to them by a penitent, not the other way around! Timothy Titus Talk To TT 09:22, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

text: Apparently, the priest lied about the nature of the seal. For a priest to lie about church doctrine in such a manner is itself a sin.  2600:1003:B01E:CE9:BD89:856C:6CE5:8E9 (talk) 03:58, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Connection to priest abuse scandal? 

message: This BBC story suggests that the Irish government has said that "in future, priests would not be excused for withholding information about abuse even if it was given during confession". Might be worth noting by someone with enough knowledge to assess it. 81.158.1.158 (talk) 12:07, 29 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ireland 

message: 'Notably, neither this canon nor the law of the Decretum purports to enact for the first time the secrecy of confession.' The wording is unfortunate, but the intention of the writer is clear enough: Gratian's text is often described as a compilation, which implies that the individual article pre-dated Gratian.Pamour (talk) 09:04, 31 December 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  History 

message: At present (Year of Mercy) any confessor may absolve from the excommunication incurred by abortion, and in a couple of countries that is generally true, but even concerning the general state of affairs,  I'm rather sure that it suffices to refer the case to the bishop, not, as the article suggests, the Holy See. (Coming to think of it, I'm not so sure about the heresy either; while it used to be reserved, the CIC of 1983 contains no such provision. Though probably if the case has gone public and judged by the CDF, the CDF would have to be referred to...)--2001:A61:20CA:7101:D17A:8B92:14FB:76E8 (talk) 00:07, 9 July 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Abortion

message: There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Canon law (Catholic Church) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you.  —RMCD bot 17:00, 11 July 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Move discussion in progress

message: Hello, I have deleted some text which is unsourced and/or cited to sources that do not in any way support the assertions therein. Please do not restore it without repairing these problems. Thank you! 2600:8800:1880:188:5604:A6FF:FE38:4B26 (talk) 05:52, 6 November 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: The deleted text has been described as "useful details", but to me those alleged details appeared wildly inaccurate. I welcome anyone who wishes to bolster those claims with reliable sources. Due to the extraordinary nature of the claims, however, impeccable reliability, and highly specific descriptions of the situations involved, will be necessary. Thanks. 2600:8800:1880:188:5604:A6FF:FE38:4B26 (talk) 06:30, 6 November 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unsourced / failed verification 

message: First, if somebody confesses to a crime, such as child abuse, can the priest require the person to turn himself in to the authorities?  I would think yes, that is a most suitable and salutary penance, but I have read elsewhere that too is considered a violation of the seal.
Second, this article says
Thomas gives two reasons for the seal's inviolability: the seal is divinely instituted and the seal prevents scandal
And why is it necessary to prevent scandal?
Third, a citation is needed for where it says that both John Paul II and Benedict XVI punished indirect violations with automatic excommunication.
2600:1003:B01E:CE9:BD89:856C:6CE5:8E9 (talk) 03:51, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: 3 questions

message: The opening paragraph ends with an odd bit of writing. I suggest it be changed to something more related to the topic, such as "not to publicize." Jasphetamine (talk) 11:09, 26 July 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't think it should be changed, it's a term of art in the Catholic church although we do need better explanation of this somehow. Nil Einne (talk) 16:14, 9 September 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Not to cause scandal?"