Breaking confessional seal ‘abhorrent’

AN Ennis priest has strongly defended the seal of the confessional, describing it as “sacrosanct” and that any question of breaking it would be “abhorrent” and “a serious attack, not only on the Church but on the very teachings of Christ Himself”.

Earlier this summer, the Government announced plans to introduce legislation making it mandatory for priests to reveal details of child abuse, even if they become known in confession, or face jail.
Speaking at mass in St Joseph’s Church on Sunday, Fr Michael O’Loughlin, said, “The idea that exposure of a penitent’s faults could be exposed to a public audience is abhorrent”, adding that the priest representing God in the confessional is “bound by conscience to protect the confidentiality of what was shared”.
He stated there has been a recent “unprecedented attack on the Vatican” because of its handling of claims of abuse by members of the clergy.
Fr O’Loughlin went on to criticise recent statements by Government members saying, “Statements by the Minister for Education recommending the abolition of religious education in the curriculum and also from the previous Minister for the Environment that ‘I thought that the Church’s interference in the political affairs of the country was gone’; in some respects, these are tantamount to totalitarianism”.
According to Fr O’Loughlin, “The right of reconciliation was central to the message of Christ. Any rebuttal of His reassurance that He is a forgiving God would be astonishing. The core of Christ’s message was a message of forgiveness. However, the question of the seal of confession would not only be a betrayal of a Christian’s basic right to ask forgiveness for their faults and failures but also would be a denial of the fact that reconciliation is essential to human behaviour and conduct. It also would be a dismissal of the frailty of the human person’s right and the right to ask for forgiveness. The seal of the confessional is sacrosanct, we all have need of healing, both physical and spiritual healing and also the right to religious freedom.”
“It beggars belief,” he added, “that our State body can distance itself from a Church that has contributed so much to the dignity of the Irish people and which has contributed, and still does, to the welfare of its citizens. I fear that this tension between church and state is not only confusing but also leads to bewilderment.
I am led to suspect that all this is a distraction from the economic woes that we are immersed in at the present time.”
He concluded that the Church, in the affairs of the State, is “not incompatible with what is required for the spiritual and civil welfare of its citizens. What is required is a relationship of trust that enables people to live in peaceful accord as citizens of God and state.
“In the long run, reform can only come from all segments of society to live in mutual trust and support of one another,” he said.