VATICAN CITY — Amid pedophile clergy scandals, the Vatican has declared “unacceptable” any efforts by politicians or lawmakers to force priests to violate their sacred obligation to keep secret what faithful tell them in confession. The Holy See’s Apostolic Penitentiary, a tribunal dealing with absolution and confessional matters, reiterated the secrecy obligation for clergy in a six-page document approved by the pope and made public Monday. The Holy See’s Apostolic Penitentiaria, a tribunal which deals with absolution and confessional matters, reiterated the secrecy obligation in a six-page document made public Monday, July 1, 2019, by the Vatican. But Piacenza stressed that confessional secrecy cannot be compared to “professional secrecy” enjoyed by the likes of lawyers and doctors. Thus, the cardinal said, confessional secrecy cannot be subject to the legal exceptions for occasionally lifting professional secrecy.

Source: Washington Post July 01, 2019 10:57 UTC