Abuses and Persecution:
Australia passes law requiring priests to break seal of confession, bishop protests
Note: the following comment from Samantha Gillenson on the Australia headline is being elevated to being the accompanying post. Here’s what she said:
So let me get this straight… the Australian government is essentially forcing practicing Catholics and Catholic priests to choose between their faith and obeying the law. This doesn’t end well for either Catholic group!
In the case of the Catholic in the confessional, he or she will be less inclined to confess certain sins in the Sacrament to the priest, since that under Australian law they know full well that the priest can report them to the authorities. Thus they hide mortal sin in Confession, and make a sacrilegious Confession, and add another mortal sin to their tally, perpetuating their state of mortal sin and endangering them to eternity in Hell by their actions.
In the case of the Catholic priest, he is forced to choose between fidelity to his faith or fidelity to the law when he hears certain sins in the confessional. Either he breaks the Seal of Confession to uphold civil law and automatically excommunicates himself (putting him in danger of Hell without recourse to the Sacramental Life), or he upholds the faith and refuses to abide by the unjust law, putting himself at risk for prosecution and jail time, not to mention slander by the public for his rightful defense of the Sacrament.
On a third note, if the confessional does not have face to face confession (which they should NOT anyway, because this turns confession into a glorified counseling session), then the priest has no way of knowing the identity of the penitent anyway, unless he somehow recognizes them by the sound of their voice and already previously knew them by name. And if the penitent knows this (for example, if this priest is their primary confessor or maybe their only one), then they will withhold the mortal sin for fear of being reported to the authorities!
Forcing Catholic laymen and priests to violate their Faith to uphold this unjust law is deplorable. Perhaps Australian Catholics had better prepare priest holes in their homes to hide faithful priests, much like English Catholics did under the tyrannical reign of Henry VIII. At least then we will know who is faithful to Christ’s Church by refusing to comply with the law and hide. Many white martyrdoms will be facilitated by this law, for the greater glory of God.
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So let me get this straight… the Australian government is essentially forcing practicing Catholics and Catholic priests to choose between their faith and obeying the law. This doesn’t end well for either Catholic group!
In the case of the Catholic in the confessional, he or she will be less inclined to confess certain sins in the Sacrament to the priest, since that under Australian law they know full well that the priest can report them to the authorities. Thus they hide mortal sin in Confession, and make a sacrilegious Confession, and add another mortal sin to their tally, perpetuating their state of mortal sin and endangering them to eternity in Hell by their actions.
In the case of the Catholic priest, he is forced to choose between fidelity to his faith or fidelity to the law when he hears certain sins in the confessional. Either he breaks the Seal of Confession to uphold civil law and automatically excommunicates himself (putting him in danger of Hell without recourse to the Sacramental Life), or he upholds the faith and refuses to abide by the unjust law, putting himself at risk for prosecution and jail time, not to mention slander by the public for his rightful defense of the Sacrament.
On a third note, if the confessional does not have face to face confession (which they should NOT anyway, because this turns confession into a glorified counseling session), then the priest has no way of knowing the identity of the penitent anyway, unless he somehow recognizes them by the sound of their voice and already previously knew them by name. And if the penitent knows this (for example, if this priest is their primary confessor or maybe their only one), then they will withhold the mortal sin for fear of being reported to the authorities!
Forcing Catholic laymen and priests to violate their Faith to uphold this unjust law is deplorable. Perhaps Australian Catholics had better prepare priest holes in their homes to hide faithful priests, much like English Catholics did under the tyrannical reign of Henry VIII. At least then we will know who is faithful to Christ’s Church by refusing to comply with the law and hide. Many white martyrdom’s will be facilitated by this law, for the greater glory of God.
Heroic Australian priests will risk jail to protect the seal of confession:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/australian-priests-say-theyll-risk-jail-to-protect-seal-of-confession-from?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com&utm_campaign=f552ff87f4-Daily%2520Headlines%2520-%2520U.S._COPY_271&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_12387f0e3e-f552ff87f4-401405341