✣Archbishop: I’d go to jail over confessional seal
What happened?
Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne said he would go to jail rather than break the seal of Confession. His remarks to ABC Radio Melbourne came after Australia’s royal commission recommended that priests face criminal penalties if they fail to divulge accounts of abuse heard in Confession. Archbishop Hart said Confession was “absolutely sacrosanct”, a “communication with God” that is “of a higher order”. Its confidentiality, he said, is a “fundamental part of the freedom of religion”.
What Australian media are saying
The archbishop’s case was given short shrift by some. Lucie Morris-Marr, at the New Daily site, described it as a “tantrum”. She argued that child abuse “isn’t a sin that can be forgiven or ignored in the confession box” but a “heinous crime” requiring “many long, miserable years in a jail cell. Ideally a putrid one.” Susie O’Brien, writing for the Herald Sun, asked why the Church wanted to “forgive” and “protect” paedophiles.
Fr Frank Brennan, at the Sydney Morning Herald, said he, like the archbishop, would “conscientiously refuse to comply with the law”. If the Seal of Confession no longer applied, he wrote, the chance of an abuser confessing was even more remote. That would “snuff out” the slim possibility that the abuser “might be convinced by the priest to turn himself in”.
What Catholics are saying
Joanna Moorhead, writing for the Guardian, said the confidentiality of the confessional “goes to the heart of what all Christians believe, which is that no sin is so wicked that it cannot be forgiven by God”. She wrote: “The child abuser, in common with any sinner – indeed, any human being – is forgivable and will always be forgivable, even if only by God. To deny that seems to me to deny our humanity.”
An editorial in America magazine said that one breach of the seal of Confession would “likely lead to a collapse of all legal protections for it”. If sex abuse was too heinous a crime to be protected by the seal, what about murder, or corporate crimes defrauding millions? “If some crimes should be reported,” it said, “what is the definition of a crime that should not be reported?”
✣Medjugorje visions ‘could be approved this year’
What happened?
The papal delegate to Medjugorje has said that the visions at the site could be recognised as genuine. Archbishop Henryk Hoser, appointed by Pope Francis to study pastoral care at the site, told the KAI news agency: “I think it’s possible to recognise the authenticity of the first [seven] apparitions.” It could happen “as early as this year”, he said.
Why was it under-reported?
Archbishop Hoser does not himself have the authority to rule on this matter: his remit is pastoral care. It is the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, along with the Vatican Secretariat of State, who are looking into the apparitions’ validity.
Perhaps the story failed to catch on because it is not the first whisper of possible Vatican approval: earlier this year Vatican Insider reported that Rome’s original commission thought the first apparitions were genuine. The saga has dragged on for so long that a quick resolution had seemed unlikely.
What will happen next?
Famously, the Vatican moves slowly, especially in a matter of such complexity. But Archbishop Hoser appears confident that the Vatican could approve some of the apparitions, even quite soon. “It’s difficult to believe that six seers will lie for 36 years,” he said. “What they say has been consistent. They are not mentally incompetent. A strong argument for the authenticity of the apparitions is their faithfulness to the doctrine of the Church.” But others, including the local bishop, believe that all the apparitions are false. Vatican approval would take many aback.
✣The week ahead
The leaders of the three ordinariates are meeting in Australia next week. Mgr Harry Entwistle, of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, will celebrate a Mass at Mary Immaculate church, Brisbane, on Thursday to mark five years since the founding of Australia’s ordinariate. A day earlier theologian Tracey Rowland will give a talk on the future of ecumenism.
A Holy Hour will be held at Cardiff’s Metropolitan Cathedral of St David to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life within the diocese. It is an annual event. The hour begins at 7pm on Wednesday and all are invited.
A film about the life of a heroic Vietnam War chaplain will be premiered on EWTN on Wednesday. Fr Vincent Capodanno was shot dead after going to the aid of a dying marine. His Cause opened in 2002 and a diocesan investigation into his life has been sent to Rome. The film, Called and Chosen, is being aired on the 50th anniversary of Fr Capodanno’s death.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.