Sanctity of Confession; Where does it End?
To me what this priest did was right and proper. Some have complained that he wasnt supposed to say anything, but as far as i can tell from the story he DIDNT. All he did was make clear to a penitent, that her only recourse was to get a lawyer and do everything in her power to free a man wrongly convicted of raping her. Wrongly convicted SOLELY because of her perjurious testimony. the priest did contact a lawyer and put that lawyer in touch with the woman. What he told the lawyer, I dont know
Full story here
This brings me back to all the children molested, and worse, by catholic priests over the last 50 years or so. A crime and a pain made all the worse by the fact that it was routinely covered up by the church, in many cases only to happen again and again. Why? Well in some cases the priest confessed, but under the cloak of priest / penitent confidentiality; NOTHING was said to law enforcement.
But what this priest here did was simply perfect. Perfect in that he was able to keep his vow of confidentiality, while at the same time trying to do something to right a wrong. What would he have done if the girl did not go the police and confess? would he have taken the next step and gone to the police himself? That would have violated the confidentiality, BUT, in my opinion, it would have been the only right thing to do. There is NO WORSE crime to be in jail for than rape, or child molestation. Spending ANY time in jail on these charges is like a life sentence and in some cases a death sentence.
Why was this tact seemingly not used over the years in the priest / child molestation scandal? Why did the priests hearing the confessions.of their peers, not instruct them as did the priest in the above story? Or did they? Obviously i dont know, and neither do you. But what is also obvious is that they did NOT take the next step. They did not report these heinous crimes to law enforcement. And this failure makes them complicit in the crimes. Ironic wouldnt it be if / when they face their maker (?) and find out they are no better in HIS (or HER) eyes than the actual perpetrators. Yes justice will finally be served if you believe in all that, but for me, i want it served HERE and NOW. I know far too many fanatical believers who are still in denial over this issue.
Meanwhile, my gratitude and congratulations to Father Zeljko Guberovic of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Union City, New Jersey
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posted by D. Coder | 9:08 PM
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