Letter: SB 360 pits state against priests’ vows, conscience

SB 360 pits state against
priests’ vows, conscience

Re: “State vs. Church: Senators want confessions of child abuse reported; clergy assert religious freedom,” (Page A1, May 26):

SB 360 requiring Catholic priests to report child sex crimes heard in confession is an unenforceable law.

History shows that Catholic priests faced with breaking the seal of the confessional or facing jail will choose incarceration. A priest who breaks the seal also faces removal from the priesthood.

Priests cannot even disclose that someone has gone to him for confession. Confession can be done face to face, or behind a screen. Will DAs drag a priest into court to try to have him do a voice lineup to identify a suspect?

This law would grant a great deal of emotional satisfaction to those who pass it and do not understand what they are up against. It pits a priest’s conscience against the state and violates his religious freedom. This law would inevitably be declared unconstitutional in court.

So, at that point, how many were protected by this proposed law?

David Brandt
Pinole

 

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