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Robert Barron | – Priests, Confession, and Prison

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Robert Barron
By Bishop Robert Barron
29 Comments

A recent bill proposed in the California Senate will force priests to report any crimes of sexual abuse they hear about in the confessional, breaking the seal of Confession. In this episode, I discuss the sacredness of this sacrament and what the Church should do if, suddenly, the sacrament of Confession becomes functionally illegal.

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About The Author

Bishop Robert Barron These are brief and insightful commentaries on faith and culture by Catholic theologian and author Bishop Robert Barron. The videos complement his weekly sermons posted and podcasted at WordOnFire.org.

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  4. If a priest learns of ongoing or imminent abuse during confession can he take action to try to stop it which falls short of actually disclosing the conversation? What if a priest thinks a confession is insincere or even taunting him can he decide it is not a valid confession and therefore tell the police ?

  9. Welcome to the People's Republic of California where we can make a law to solve every problem! I am Anglican, so not fully "Catholic" but I heartily agree with the good Bishop's point in this matter. Our own communion is Australia tried to institute such a sacramental violation. The nature of Confession is that the priest is acting in the person of Christ the Incarnate Deity, Word made Flesh and as such the contents of the confession is between God and the one making the confession… There is no way around this distinction. God gives his Church the authority to loose and bind sins. Something for all those self identified Catholics such as Gavin Newsom and Nancy Pelosi to think about…

  10. Didn't Christ say "whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven, whose sins you shall retain they are retained". If the penitent admits to child abuse, can the confessor not say something like "I must retain your sins unless you report yourself to the police, when you do that I will forgive your sins"

  12. How can other wise grown up people sit there and defend a morally depraved institution like the Roman Catholic church? In the following video one victim states: The abuse was so common it became normal" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6yTF8TdLiM&t=28s He tells how the priest put his hands up his trousers and grabbed his penis. And this is just ONE case of thousands. It is the priests themselves who should be in prison! Who hears THEIR confession? Tell me that you dont know that the so-called leaders of the church are not aware of this sick and disgusting moral depravity? Cardinal Law of Boston and to leave because he covered it up for thirty years, I hope he is roasting in hell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUgxJ36tIz0 "He apologized for all those victims who had suffered because of him" Wow. What an asshole, don´t take my word for it, play the video. Next how about another of your brilliant "leaders" Cardinal George Pell? How about this asshole here is is sentencing video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTWobCyYysA The judge says: "You are to be sentenced as a serious sexual offender" These are the LEADERS of your dumb-ass church that you so strongly believe in, NOT isolated cases!!!! The Catholic church covered up predator priest John Geoghan´s crimes for 25 years https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jzCuSo3yyE This is YOUR church that these videos are talking about. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

  14. A similar law has already been enacted in Australia in the ACT (the Australian Capital Territory which includes the Australian capital city of Canberra). Bishop Barron should speak to the Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn Christopher Prowse.
    Peter

  15. It wouldn´t be a bad idea to do some SERIOUS research apart from the bible verse about Peter being a rock and "founding a church" to ask yourself if Jesus really had any intention of setting up any kind of religious organization whatsoever, much less a political institution like the Catholic church, or that he had any desire at all to found any sort of church. The cut and paste job on the Christian bible has a lot to say about this, given that there were many outright deletions, and, more important, insertions into it from the time of the 3rd century and the Council of Nicea. You never hear Jesus speak many times about "his church" or "his religion". I cannot imagine a much worse departure from the simple teachings of Jesus than the present Catholic church with all its creed and dogma, tacked on over the centuries by men who desired power and position, and one thing surely is, is that this church is rooted in men who have power and position" If you doubt it, read up how Cardinal Law was able for thirty years to cover up the sex crimes of his priests because he had the power to do it.

  17. Question, if a priest does become aware of a child who is being abused through a confession, what steps can he take to protect that child? This would apply to anyone really. If someone confesses they are planning to harm or have been harming someone? Is there anything a priest can do to protect that person?

  20. Cardinal George Pell has been sentenced to six years' jail for sexually abusing two choirboys when he was Catholic archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s. Chief Judge Peter Kidd said Pell's abuse was "a brazen and forcible sexual attack on the victims" that was "breathtakingly arrogant

  21. Cardinal George Pell has been sentenced to six years' jail for sexually abusing two choirboys when he was Catholic archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s. Chief Judge Peter Kidd said Pell's abuse was "a brazen and forcible sexual attack on the victims" that was "breathtakingly arrogant

  22. Cardinal George Pell has been sentenced to six years' jail for sexually abusing two choirboys when he was Catholic archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s.

    Key points:

    Pell will be eligible for parole after three years and eight months

    The chief judge said Pell's abuse of the two choirboys was "brazen and forcible"

    But he said Pell must not be punished for the suffering of sexual abuse survivors generally

    Pell, 77, was found guilty by a jury last December of sexually abusing the choirboys after a Sunday mass in December 1996 and then assaulting one of them a second time two months later.

    The man who was once Australia's most powerful Catholic sat in the dock dressed in a black shirt and a grey blazer, without a clerical collar, as County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd delivered his sentence.

    The chief judge described Pell's abuse of two choirboys in the sacristy at St Patrick's Cathedral as "a brazen and forcible sexual attack on the victims".

    "The acts were sexually graphic, both victims were visibly and audibly distressed during the offending," he said.

    "There is an added layer of degradation and humiliation that each of your victims must have felt in knowing that their abuse had been witnessed by the other."

  23. Bishop Barren – I've always been a big fan, listener to WoF, etc. However, on this you are wrong. You do not present other side….what happens to the child that is being sexually abused? Imagine this scenario: A father comes into your confessional and every week confesses to you that he is raping his daughter. You absolve him of his sin, but he refuses to stop his behavior or turn himself into the police. You are now an accomplise in his crime. What do you say to the child who is being raped every week???? I've listened to 3 videos of your on this topic and each time, you refuse to state what happens to the sexually abused child you are turning a blind toward. Which tells me you know you are wrong……morally, ethically, and Biblically….you mention Cannon Law but not the Bible. You are wrong Bishop Barron. In fact, you are committing the sin of Clericalism and this is why people are leaving the Church, they want to save their children from priests like you.

  24. And who in hell is the puny State of California to dictate to the Catholic Church—the oldest institution on the face of the earth, which preëxists every nation, state, country and institution we know, the "inventor" of Western Civilisation and facilitator of the modern world? This bill is so clearly a violation of the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause that it's ridiculous. Let Sacramento go to hell!

  25. Repentance is a GIFT from Yahweh to those who will CEASE from sin. 1 Peter 4: 1.

    Those who continue in sin have NO repentance whatsoever.

    The sorrow of the world leads to death. 2 Cor. 7: 9- 11.

    Godly Repentance leads to LIFE.

    NEW Life FREED from sin. Rom. 6: 22.

    NEW LIFE : 1 John 3: 6 and 9. 1 John 5: 18.

    Rev. 12: 17. Rev. 14: 12. Rev. 22: 14. These alone will be saved.

    1 Peter 4: 18. NO salvation for sinners. John 3: 1- 8.

    May Yahweh give you your hearts desire.

    bless you

  26. It won't affect the traditional Catholic priests in California who hear 99 percent of all confessions behind a screen and therefore cannot actually identify who said what let alone prove it because the screens are opaque and prevent anyone's face from being seen. Especially since all traditional confessionals are very dimly lit.

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