re: Catholics to excommunicate priests who follows Washington law about reporting child abuse

Same people involved in trafficking children.

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It's only if they report something heard during confession and the same would hold true for any other crimes they hear during confession.

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The new law specifically requires clergy to report suspected child abuse and neglect.

Excommunication only occurs if the Seal of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is broken.

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2490 The secret of the sacrament of reconciliation is sacred, and
cannot be violated under any pretext. “The sacramental seal is
inviolable; therefore, it is a crime for a confessor in any way to
betray a penitent by word or in any other manner or for any
reason.”284

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If a priest is made aware of any danger to another outside of the Sacrament. He is compelled to share with authorities.

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2491 Professional secrets—for example, those of political office
holders, soldiers, physicians, and lawyers—or confidential infor
mation given under the seal of secrecy must be kept, save in
exceptional cases where keeping the secret is bound to cause very
grave harm to the one who confided it, to the one who received it
or to a third party, and where the very grave harm can be avoided
only by divulging the truth. Even if not confided under the seal of
secrecy, private information prejudicial to another is not to be
divulged without a grave and proportionate reason.

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That would hold weight if the Catholic church didn't have a very long history of protecting child abusers

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I'm a practicing Catholic. Far and away the biggest issue I have with the Church is its protection of child abusers...in no way, shape or form can the Church justify hiding priests. "Pay unto Caesar what is Caesar's..." Canon law doesn't override civil law, the two can coexist peacefully. But we also have to consider that anything uttered in a confessional might not be true. It would be a powerful weapon if some unscrupulous character wanted to wield it. Personally, I would put this in the same category as lawyer client privilege - if an attorney doesn't have to report his conversations with a client, neither should a priest with a parishoner. Let the justice system handle the justice and let the Church handle the spiritual. I don't like the idea that someone could admit to a crime and walk away, but the division of the two is there for good reason. Ultimately, it's not an easy choice.

quote:

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2490 The secret of the sacrament of reconciliation is sacred, and
cannot be violated under any pretext. “The sacramental seal is
inviolable; therefore, it is a crime for a confessor in any way to
betray a penitent by word or in any other manner or for any
reason.”284

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quote:

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2491 Professional secrets—for example, those of political office
holders, soldiers, physicians, and lawyers—or confidential infor
mation given under the seal of secrecy must be kept, save in
exceptional cases where keeping the secret is bound to cause very
grave harm to the one who confided it, to the one who received it
or to a third party, and where the very grave harm can be avoided
only by divulging the truth. Even if not confided under the seal of
secrecy, private information prejudicial to another is not to be
divulged without a grave and proportionate reason.

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and people on here bash frats

It’s not really reconciliation if someone is telling the priest of something they are going to do in the future. The entire point of confession is to confess past sins and state a firm purpose to avoid doing them in the future.

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They are actually bound to reveal what is told to them in the vonfessional if it is going to lead to future harm. I.e. you could confess a murder and not get told on but confessing plans to murder is allowable to admit to authorities.

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Incorrect. The confession of that future sin is not absolvable in this scenario. Even so, the Priest cannot report the planned sin. He can only guide the penitent to avoid the sin or turn themselves in. Which he would also do in the case of any past crimes reported in the confessional.

A priest can’t violate the privacy oath but they can do almost anything g as part of the penance. So the priest could make a confessor required to turn himself in as part of his penance or else he is not forgiven.

Is the Catholic Church well within their rights to do this? Absolutely.

Should devout Catholics raise an eyebrow and question whether or not devotion to an organization that does it is worthy of their time and money? You bet your priest-raped arse you should.