Every once in a while, some legal case pops up whereby one side tries to undermine the Seal of Confession. These attempts usually go down in defeat. However, each time they are advanced, the needle is bumped ever so slightly in their desired direction.
In California the Seal of Confession is under attack.
A priest friend sent me this:
If you get a chance while you’re enjoying the Acton Conference, you might encourage people to join the fight against California’s attempt to punish priests for keeping the seal of the confessional.
The Archdiocese of San Francisco has a webpage on what people can do: https://www.sfarch.org/keeptheseal
Loading ...
Were I a California priest, I would only hear confessions behind a screen in a traditional confessional. This creates plausible deniability. If you don’t know who is confessing, the state can’t expect you to accuse anyone.
Please spread the word brethren! Our Priests would be faced with either excommunication or jail time if it goes through, which would result in the sacraments not being celebrated. We would hate for this to spread to other states! Please act now!
Would it not be proper for a priest put in that situation to simply respond, “I know nothing. It was our Lord Jesus Christ Who hears confessions. Ask Him.”