Part 111, Chapter V11(1): Fidelity to the Secrecy of Confession

Fidelity to the Secrecy of Confession

ONE OF the most important qualifications of the good confessor is fidelity to the secrecy of confession. This obligation is established on a foundation of divine law, natural law and ecclesiastical law. Consequently, a breach of this weighty trust can never be considered light or unimportant.

It is, therefore, always a grievous sin to reveal anything heard in confession. A priest may not refer, either directly or indirectly, during the lifetime or even after the death of the penitent, to matters revealed to him in the sacred tribunal. He may not mention anything that has been discussed with the penitent before confession with a view to receiving the Sacrament of Penance. Nor may he speak outside the confessional, even in conversation with the penitent himself, of anything revealed there unless express o r tacit permission is given. Neither may the confessor mention the sin of an accomplice to his partner i n crime, even as a means of urging him to confess his share of the guilt; nor may the priest speak of hearing the confession of one who has come to him secretly and has stated or implied that he wishes the fact to remain unknown. He may not discuss sins which are widely publicized, but are known sacramentally to the priest. The confessor is also forbidden to discuss with a fellow- priest the sins of a penitent who has been heard by both, nor may he refer in general terms to the sins confessed by people living in a small place o r by the members of a religious community.

Penances must not be revealed, especially when they are such as are customarily associated with mortal sins. Peculiarities of penitents should not be discussed when they are known only through confes

sion. Likewise, when a priest has heard only a few penitents in a certain locality, he should refrain from praising the virtues of any particular one or from saying that his sins were only venial, because this might result in making known indirectly the faults of the others and in insinuating that they confessed mortal sins.

The confessor is not permitted to employ the knowledge obtained in the confessional to guide his actions, whether in doing or omitting anything, without the penitent's permission, if by so doing he runs the risk of revealing indirectly the sin confessed.

If a difficult case of conscience should arise, the confessor may consult another priest so long as he can do this without revealing in any way the identity of the penitent.

It is dangerous to mention any matter which the confessor has heard discussed outside the confessional as well as within its walls. It would be wiser not to mention the subject.

If a person should say to the priest, I am telling you such and such a thing as if I were in the confessional," he is obliged by the natural law to respect the truth, but is not held by the secrecy of the confessional, even though the priest should believe so, because the seal of confession applies only to sacramental confession.

There are other persons held by the same secrecy as the confessor, namely the superior who has granted permission to absolve from a reserved sin, if the priest has inadvertently or imprudently revealed the person for whom the absolution is asked. Likewise the priest who is taken into consultation, when the identity of the penitent has been revealed involuntarily or with the consent of the person concerned. Those who through malicious curiosity or accident have overheard the confession of another person are bound strictly to the secrecy of confession. Interpreters used to translate confessions in foreign languages are also bound by the same obligation.

When giving a mission in a parish, a preacher should be careful not to speak, even in general terms, of sins that prevail in that parish, lest he be guilty of breaking the seal of confession.

Finally, every confessor should be most faithful to avoid the slightest mention of what he has heard in confession because such an indiscretion gives scandal to the laity, makes the Sacrament of Penance odious,

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robs people of their liberty to confess their sins, and is the cause of many sacrileges with the consequent loss of souls. God will demand a strict account of confessors who are too free in speaking about things that should be wrapped in perpetual silence, and, so far as possible, banished from their thoughts. 160-