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Dear Peter (Bowden),

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There’s no way the Christian Churches could possibly ignore the fact that the confessional is an incitement to commit criminal offences and “sins”.

Even if we give the conceivers of the rite the benefit of the doubt and consider that it was not their original intention, the fact is that, far from acting as a deterrent, it encourages recidivism.

A classic example of just how easily this antagonistic effect can occur is related by Michael G. Vann, in "Of Rats, Rice, and Race: The Great Hanoi Rat Massacre, an Episode in French Colonial History" published by the French Colonial History Society (May, 2003): In Hanoi, under French colonial rule, a program paying people a bounty for each rat pelt handed in was intended to exterminate rats. Instead, it led to the farming of rats.

Tony Lavis cited a particularly pertinent example in his post on page 1 of this thread :

« Father Michael McArdle made an affidavit in 2004 stating he had confessed 1500 times to molesting children to 30 different priests over a 25-year period.

After being forgiven 1500 times in face-to-face confessions with his fellow priests, the Queenslander was told merely to “go home and pray” ».

The priest declared :

« After each confession, it was like a magic wand had been waved over me » :

http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2018/06/14/confession-child-abuse-royal-commission/
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It is evident that the Christian Churches will have to put their houses in order. If they fail to do so, the State will be obliged to intervene, one way or another.

Pope Francis excommunicated the Mafia in Clabria in 2014. There are very few offenses that can lead to excommunication. Procuring an abortion is one – for which the punishment is automatic – and, perhaps unsurprisingly, physically attacking the Pope himself.

It seems to me that the least he could do would be to excommunicate priests and others found guilty of sexually abusing children.

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Toni,

Good link, but the Pope can change that at the stroke of a pen, so get around that.

"Another means to try is to allow priests to marry. If there is less sexual tension because they have a wife to love, then they will (again) hopefully lower the amount of abuses given to children."

Interesting, but it wouldn't apply to homosexual paedophiles.

Dear Foxy,

«there are laws that you are required to obey»

Required by whom? A bunch of bullies, that's all they are!

«Try disobeying them - and see how far you get.»

So having no good argument, you resort to threats?

This is the language of fear, the language of Mafia - next you will probably claim that states give us protection...

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Laws like this will simply stop confessions altogether.

There may be some exceptions, such as dying people who would no longer be able to tell anyone else what they confessed, but alas, an undercover policeman could still pretend to be dying in order to trap a priest.

Or confessing elderly women who could not have been a perpetrator nor a victim, but alas, nowadays perpetrators could have changed their gender (perhaps even for the very purpose to stop offending).

Most likely, those who want to confess (about anything, commonly having nothing to do with child-abuse) will travel overseas, perhaps on special cruises in international waters, or visiting priests may fly in, take confessions, then be out of Australia on the next flight.

A great therapeutic and spiritual technique will be lost!

The spiritual value of confession is in the confession itself - the absolution part may stimulate people to confess, but has little value in itself. It is also unimportant for the person who listens to a confession to be a priest, although people tend to choose priests as confessors because they trust them better not to disclose what was said.

Whether you are religious or otherwise, whether you actually offended anyone or only imagine you did, the opportunity to share one's guilt with a non-judgemental other, is invaluable!

//Good link, but the Pope can change that at the stroke of a pen, so get around that.//

I suppose he can. I'm less convinced that he will.

Why do you want to see paedophiles protected, anyway? I don't get it. It's weird. Paedophiles are dicks. Why would you go into bat for them?

The comments of Yuyutzu and Not.now.soon leave me in despair. You almost defend the monsters who claim to represent your 'God', as if their working conditions forced them to abuse children. You are clearly uneducated about pedophilia and are in denial about the part everyday Catholics like yourselves have played in financially supporting an institution that openly commits, (still!), human rights abuses, particularly against third world women. I would never put a cent in that plate they pass around and am staggered that anyone with a conscience still does.

As a mental health practitioner who has heard many, many tales of abuse at the hands of your 'men of God', with the destruction of entire families that has resulted, I support the idea that smoking out any opportunities for cockroaches like these to avoid detection is essential. Priests have proven themselves to be morally decrepit and not to be trusted (since they are only ordinary men) and should be forced to abide by state law, not hide behind ancient laws that have no relevance in modern society. Law-abiding Catholics should have nothing to fear by losing the confidentiality of the confessional and if they want to commit a 'sin', should look forward to a nice prison stay like any other citizen.

Honestly, if children weren't brainwashed with this backward, ghost-story, clap-trap, the pews would be empty already. Intelligent adults would never participate in organisations like these, if they were allowed to choose for themselves.