I just think its getting very close to star chamber type territory.
Is it not ironic that most on this forum consider priests to be untrustworthy and a menace yet they also consider these same priests trustworthy enough to not mischievously report false statements for people who they consider as enemies.
It’s a matter of weighing up the pros and cons. On one side, you have a particular, specific and relatively unusual element of the traditional confessional/confessor confidentiality ‘agreement’ nullified. On the other, you have the potential to aquire vital evidence in a particularly heinous crime. Absolutely no contest, in my opinion. If you disagree with that, you’d need to make a pretty solid and comprehensive argument and without any distracting side-tracks for anyone to take it seriously.
On the 2nd paragraph - the point you make has no bearing on the matter, and is a separate issue. We’ve already discussed how often a piece of information may or may not come to light - it’s not the argument.
I don’t think it’s unreasonably to question the Church’s pocy and behaviors in of dealing with child sexual abuse, particularly by long after the RC. They have, in my opinion, a morality deficit. The remarks by the AB do not help their cause.
I wouldn’t have thought so. I always thought hearsay was where someone tells you what someone else said and you report on that ie not directly from source
Everybody is assuming all these pedos confess to other priests but is this really the case?
You introduce this law and there is no chance a pedo would confess. And how the hell do you prove that a pedo actually confessed to a priest? The priest won’t dob himself in and I doubt the pedo would. Not sure this law would be anything other than tokenistic and next to useless.
Yes it is hearsay, but admissions have always been an exception to the rule excluding hearsay from evidence. That’s why confessions to cops are admitted.
Ok fair enough - I haven’t followed this thread closely and I thought the proposed law was to target priests who hear comfessions from pedophile priests.
I think it’s a result of a recommendation from the RC. My gripe is lack of consistency- if it’s good enough for medical/education/social professions to have mandatory reporting, it’s good enough for faith based ones.
There is nothing weird about Confession; indeed it is part of the Catholic faith and as important to Catholics as sacraments like Communion. And if you think it is used as a “free form of therapy” then you know nothing about the Catholic faith, and cannot possibly be a Catholic.