As a Catholic living in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I have been closely watching the court case of Father Bayhi. This case involved the courts attempting to force Fr. Bayhi to reveal what happened during a confession. Attorneys claimed that a young girl told Fr. Bayhi several times in confession that she was being molested by a member of the parish. The parents of the child sued Fr. Bayhi and the Diocese of Baton Rouge saying that priests should be mandatory reporters and that Fr. Bayhi failed in his duty and he (and all priests) should be required to break the seal of confession in cases involving child abuse.

This is a very important case, for catholics and others in our country. Recently, a judge ruled that the seal of confession is indeed protected and it would be unconstitutional to require a priest to break that seal. As some celebrate the decision, others hang their heads in horror and disgust. How should we react, and what does the church teach? Read on as we discuss.

First, I would like to say that I am definitely against all cases of child abuse! Child abuse is horrible, and the people who commit those crimes should be punished to the full extent of the law. If it was my child that was being abused, I would want the criminal punished and measures put in place to make sure it never happened again. How does this relate to the sacrament of confession?

I think it all boils down to one question: What really happens in the sacrament of confession? If confession is nothing more than a place for people to go to “get things off of their chest” and tell someone what they did, then I think it would be horrible for priests to hide confession. But, if confession is more than that, if confession is a sacrament, then I believe that the seal of confession should be absolute like the church teaches.

What is Confession?

Confession is a sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ and given to the church as a means to provide people forgiveness for their sins. As we are all sinners (myself included), we often fall into sin. Jesus gives us the sacrament of confession as a means to be restored back into God’s grace after we sin. When we humbly confess our sins to God, through his minister the priest, with a pure and contrite heart, God then forgives us and gives us his peace and grace to better live our lives.

Why Do We Confess Our Sins to a Priest?

Ok, I understand that God has the power to forgives sins, and I agree that we should ask for his mercy, but why can’t I just go straight to God? Well, you can always directly go to God. God longs for us to talk to him every moment and is always ready to forgive us, but how does God choose to administer that forgiveness? One way would be through the priest in the sacrament of confession. In John 20:21-23 we read these remarkable words, “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'” Surely we can agree that God has the power to delegate his power as he wishes and we see in the verses above that he delegated his power to the apostles and their successors. In Matthew 16 we also hear Jesus give Peter (the first pope) the “Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven”. So, Peter became like a “steward” of heaven and had the power to bind or loose on earth. Jesus promised that he would do likewise in heaven, saying “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” In addition, the church teaches us that in the sacrament of confession, the priest is standing “in persona Christi” (in the person of Christ). This means, that when we are sitting in the confessional, we are not just talking and telling our sins to a man, but telling them to Christ, through the priest. When the priest gives us absolution, help and advice, that is Jesus working through him. The priest will often tell us things like, “God is merciful” and “Jesus loves you”. He then says that he “absolves us of our sins”. This is Jesus giving us forgiveness. Jesus tells us this very fact in Lk 10:16, saying “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me.” Also, priests will admit, they rarely remember a confession. This would not surprise us if we realize that it was not the priest, but Jesus who heard that confession.

Sacraments Are Efficacious.

The Catholic Church teaches us that sacraments are efficacious. This means, that sacraments actually do what they signify. For example, in the sacrament of baptism, water is poured on our heads as a symbol of cleansing. What is being cleansed? Our souls. So, the sacrament of baptism, actually cleanses our souls of original sin, just like the water is symbolizing. In the same way, confession actually does what it signifies. It signifies God forgiving us of our sins, therefore, we know that God actually does forgive our sins and gives us his grace. Through this amazing gift of God to us, many many repentant sinners have been able to seek the forgiveness of God and be restored into his grace.

So, we can see why the church teaches us that confession is not merely a discussion, like “getting something off your chest”, but is actually a very holy sacrament. The church teaches that the seal of confession is inviolable, and we can see why. Nobody would come forward and ask for God’s mercy and confess his sins if he was worried about everyone else finding out. The ability to come and ask for mercy and forgiveness from God without others finding out, is why many many people’s souls have been saved. In the same way that a client expects privacy with his attorney, and expects his attorney not to “rat him out”, so the penitent sinner expects the priest to allow him to confess his sins with privacy. Yes, there are exceptions to the client-attorney relationship, but type or severity of the crime is not one. We can see, that it makes sense for the seal of confession to have no exceptions, because the stakes are so high.

Catholics are not asking for a blanket protection of everything that is said to a priest. We are asking for the ability to continue to allow our confessions to be a private matter between God, the person, and the priest. Because confession is such a holy sacrament, this is not only a necessity, but a requirement of our faith. Some might argue here for a little separation of church and state.

So, what really happens in the sacrament of confession? The grace, love, and mercy of God is shown in an amazing way! We cannot allow this sacrament to be tainted by forcing priests to break the seal of confession.

For more information, please check out:

• What the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: Confession in the Catechism
• More information about the seal of confession: Trent Horn on seal of confession
• More information about this and other Catholic topics: Catholic Answers Website