Just as a matter of interest, how would authorities prove what a penitent said to a priest in Confession?

Take the priest's word for it?

First of all as far as I know the Melbourne based dude that wears all the colorful clothes and funny hats is a member of the deeply misogynist outfit opus dei, the details of which can be found here: http://www.odan.org
He is also a protege of George Pell. And the kind of "catholic" described in the book by Matthew Fox titled The Pope's War Against the Church (the popes were JP2 and Ratzinger). The book was favorably reviewed on this site some years ago.

I am all for wearing colorful outfits and fancy hats, but in his case and so too with all of the bishops, cardinals and popes these outfits are all, at base, affirmations of institutional spirit-killing worldly power.

You wont find much (indeed any) Divine Grace within the walls of this monstrous institution!

Peter,

I'm not a RC but you are a brave man to point to one of the core issues of RC:

<<But this writer believes that the cause behind the decline is deeper than the issue of clerical abuse. It is the increasing divergence between the practices of the church and the teachings of Jesus Christ.>>

It's not only with the RCs but also with other mainline Christian churches such as the non-evangelical Anglicans and Uniting Churches in Australia. There are other examples in Europe, the USA and Canada (e.g. United Church of Canada). Wherever theological liberalism has spread it has sucked the life out of churches.

<<Not so Commensoli. He would rather leave the perpetrator of sexual abuse go free than report him to the authorities>>

I think this is a harsh indictment, especially when the confessional of the RCC maintains confidentiality of confession. I consider the biblical position is that of the Apostle Peter and the other apostles when they appeared before the Jewish Council. They were charged not to teach in the name of Jesus. Peter and the apostles' response was, 'We must obey God rather than human beings' (Acts 5:29).

If I were in Melbourne’s Catholic Archbishop, Peter Comensoli's shoes, I'd be following the instruction of St Peter, 'We must obey God rather than people'. I oppose the horrific child sexual abuse in some churches, but I don't want those situations to deflect from the biblical precedent of being faithful to Scripture in the confidential confessional.

Dear Spencer,

Don't you have confessions in your church?

I just wonder: the Roman Catholic church, at some stage, decided that a confessor must be a priest, but is this absolutely necessary? The proposed legislation specifies "religious leaders", so unless the confessor is in a leadership role, s/he could still administer confessions even in this time of trouble, isn't it? How about separating the roles then and ordaining lay-persons as confessors? Or what if an ordained priest is assigned no other position in the church, other than taking confessions?

In any case, the attempt of a secular regime to define "religious leader" in their laws is laughable. These self-appointed "authorities" cannot even tell what a religion is and who is religious or otherwise.

Yuyutsu,

I am ordained (retired) with The Christian & Missionary Alliance of Australia, an evangelical, mission-minded denomination. We do not subscribe to a confession by have a "Statement of Faith": http://www.cma.org.au/doctrinal-statement/

Since there is no Alliance Church local to where I live, I attend a Presbyterian Church that subscribes to The Westminster Confession of Faith: http://www.presbyterian.org.au/images/downloads/wcf/WCF-AustVersion-2019.pdf?5d50ad3a

<<I just wonder: the Roman Catholic church, at some stage, decided that a confessor must be a priest, but is this absolutely necessary?>>

I don't support the RCC position because of this mandate, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16).

As a long-term counsellor of many secular people, if a person confessed in counselling that he/she was sexually abusing a child, I would encourage the person to confess to the police. I would offer to go to the police station with him or her. The organisations I worked for had policies such as (my paraphrase): If any person counselled is committing an illegal act, this organisation has a legal obligation to report such behaviour to the appropriate authorities. In the ToS which the client signed, the ToS were spelled out about illegal activity shared in counselling sessions.

<< How about separating the roles then and ordaining lay-persons as confessors?>>

There is no need to do that if,

(1) Churches followed the biblical mandate of making confession not the exclusive right of the church leader, and
(2) Have it written into the policies of religious organisations that it is a requirement for them to report to authorities when clients are breaking the law.

The RCC and other denominations could stop this being an issue by making the confessional a place of 'confidentiality, truth, and submission to governing authorities (Romans 13:1)'.

"Bugger?" said the Bishop to the Choir Boy.