French lawmakers are considering a bill that would force Catholic priests to break the seal of confession and risk excommunication to report incidents of child abuse disclosed during those conversations.Legislation being debated in the French National Assembly aims to implement safeguards to better protect children from sexual abuse in schools and after-school programs. One of those proposed measures includes strengthening reporting obligations for those who learn of instances of abuse. Tucked inside the legislation is a provision that would eliminate an exemption to reporting requirements for clergy members. “Ministers of religion are not exempt with regard to information which they have become aware of in the exercise of their ministry,” the legislation reads. Last year, Washington state tried to implement a similar mandate, but state officials agreed not to enforce it as part of a settlement with three Catholic dioceses amid concerns it violated the First Amendment. Several states in Australia also have laws requiring priests to break the seal of confession. No country has a national law mandating such disclosures. However, that could change if France’s National Assembly approves the bill.Under current law, judges in France cannot compel priests to disclose information they learned in confession. The new bill clarifies that “ministers of religion are subject to the obligation to report acts of violence against minors” and that “no ‘seal of confession’ can prevent them from doing so.”“The objective is clear – to ensure these assaults never happen again, that children’s voices are heard and that the state protects them,” a lawmaker who crafted the legislation, Violette Spillebout, said during committee discussions. France’s constitution describes the country as a secular republic that “shall ensure the equality of all citizens before the law.” It provides for the free exercise of religion except when officials deem restrictions necessary to maintain public order. The church’s Code of Canon Law states that a “confessor who directly violates the seal of confession incurs an automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication.” Catholic leaders have routinely criticized laws that would force clergy members to break the seal of confession and have argued that the new law would force clergy to comply with the government at the expense of their vocation or risk fines or jail time. Catholic leaders also say the church already has robust rules to help clergy detect “immediate indicators” of abuse and report those concerns to protect children from active abuse. By contrast, disclosures of abuse heard by priests during confessions are typically a long time after the abuse occurred. The Conference of Bishops of France said in a statement first obtained by the French newspaper, Le Figaro, that it supports the push to “prevent and combat violence in schools.” The bishops also said they appreciate the “intention” of the bill, but raised concerns about “certain articles of the proposed law.”“Some articles of the proposed law call into question several fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of conscience, professional secrecy, freedom of education, or freedom of worship,” the bishops said. The bishops also expressed concern about two other provisions of the bill, which would increase the government’s oversight of private religious schools, which French bishops say would essentially put them under the control of regional governments.A member of France’s National Rally Party, Roger Chudeau, said that the legislation is “hijacking” the cause of protecting children from violence to “attack private education.”“The far left is using this text as a Trojan horse to carry out its crusade against Catholic private education,” he said during a debate on the bill on Monday.
