Secrecy and the confession of sins

I HAVE been following the correspondence in your letters column recently concerning “Crimen Sollicitationis”.

The requirements for secrecy contained in that document do not seem to merit the term “cover-up”.

Confession of sins to a Catholic priest is governed by very strict rules of secrecy. The priest is obliged to keep the secrets which he hears from penitents in the confessional, even if these involve confessions of murder, armed robbery, or rape.

By not bringing such confessions to the attention of the law enforcement, it could be said that priests effectively “cover-up” for such penitents. Yet no one suggests that they should inform law enforcement of such confessions.

A secular argument could be made that the gardaí should routinely place bugging devices in confessionals to eavesdrop on the confessions of suspected criminal penitents, but I have not seen that argument being put forward.

Given that very strict secrecy concerning the confession of sins is normal within the Catholic hierarchy. I think the significance of the secrecy requirements in the document “Crimen Sollicitationis” is being blown out of proportion.

Joseph Barry

123 Morehampton Road

Donnybrook

Dublin 4.