Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — State Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) has introduced a bill, SB 360, to end the “penitential communication” exemption to child abuse reporting. Currently, 43 categories of adults are required to report to the police if they know or “reasonably suspect” a child is “has been the victim of child abuse or neglect.” (Cal. Penal Code 11166(a).) There is an exception for clergy who gain knowledge of abuse during “penitential communication,” sometimes referred to as “confession.”  (Cal. Penal Code 11166(d).) Hill says “those in the clergy have been able to abuse and get away with it,”...

Pope: There's an Answer to Empty Confessionals Explains St. John Vianney's "Virtuous Circle" Secret VATICAN CITY, JUNE 18, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is urging priests to not become resigned to empty confessionals, but to help people rediscover the beauty of the sacrament by deepening their understanding of the Eucharist. The Pope stated this in a letter to the priests of the world, on the occasion of the Year for Priests, which begins Friday in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Mary Vianney, the Curé d'Ars. The saint "taught his parishioners primarily by the witness of...