Bishop testifies against clergy reporting bill
MONTPELIER, VT. >> The Roman Catholic Church’s rite of confession must remain confidential, even if someone tells a priest that a child has been abused, the bishop who leads Vermont’s diocese testified Friday.
Bishop Christopher Coyne told the state Senate Judiciary Committee that the church is opposed to a bill that would remove an exemption from Vermont’s child abuse and neglect reporting laws. Clergy are currently not required to report potential evidence of such crimes if they learn of it in confidence while acting as a spiritual advisor.
“A priest faces excommunication if he discloses the communication made to him during confession,” Coyne said. “And the sacramental seal of confession is the worldwide law of the Catholic Church, not just the diocese of Burlington, Vermont,” which covers the whole state.
The bill “crosses a Constitutional protective element of our religious faith: the right to worship as we see fit,” Coyne said.
But information clergy may receive outside the rite of confessions can and is reported, Coyne said. “The conversations that we have in our offices, the counseling sessions that we do, the spiritual direction that we do, none of that is privileged, and it is all included under the mandatory reporting statutes,” he acknowledged.
No one knows how many predators nationwide have continued to abuse children despite having confessed their behavior to religious officials. Religious organizations have invoked the privilege as a shield against civil and criminal liability after abuse becomes known.
While Coyne said protecting children is essential and criminals must be brought to justice, “disregarding fundamental religious rights is unnecessary,” and the two public priorities are not mutually exclusive.
Confession, the bishop said, “is not a get-out-of-jail-free card.” Priests can urge people who go to confession to do something, such as keep away from a child, get counseling or to go to authorities if crimes have been committed, he said.