Pedocriminality in the Church: can we force priests to lift the secrecy of confession in order to denounce sexual violence?

“The secret of confession s ‘imposes on us and is above the laws of the Republic. ” In one sentence, Wednesday October 6, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort a revived a controversy well known to experts in canon law. The president of the Conference of Bishops of France commented on one of the recommendations of the report of the independent commission on sexual abuse in the Church, presented publicly on Tuesday .

This commission believes that the secrecy of confession – when a priest collects the word of the faithful in the closed door of ‘a confessional – cannot be “opposed to the obligation to denounce sexual crimes against minors or vulnerable persons” . And reminds “to clerics, men and women religious that the law of the Republic prevails” over the laws of the Church.

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In other words: a priest having knowledge of such sexual violence, directly in the words of a victim or through an intermediary, even in a confessional, is required to report these facts to justice.

To justify the secrecy of confession, the Catholic Church relies first on the law canonical, which is proper to it. “The sacramental secret [qui concerne les sacrements] is inviolable” , establishes canon 983 . “It is absolutely forbidden for the confessor to betray a penitent in anything, by words or in any other way.”

No exceptions are allowed. Where applicable, according to the canon 1,388 , a priest risks excommunication, that is to say exclusion from the community of he believers, that is to say the most severe of sanctions. In 2019, Pope Francis certainly introduced the obligation of internal reporting for any suspicious behavior in matters of sexual violence against minors. But without touching the secret nature of the confession.

Does this canon law take precedence over French laws, as the president of the Bishops’ Conference of France ? “In the emotion, he did not use the exact terms” , corrects Karine Dalle, deputy secretary general of the CEF at franceinfo. “The secrecy of confession, of course, is not above the laws of the Republic. It is, moreover, framed by law and jurisprudence.” This is also the argument put forward by Eric de Moulins-Beaufort on Wednesday evening, in a press release specifying his words : “We must not oppose the secrecy of confession to the laws of the Republic since these ci do not impose its lifting “.

The Church considers in fact that the secrecy of confession is protected by secular law. In 2019, during of a parliamentary work in the Senate , Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, then secretary general of the French Bishops’ Conference, considered that sacramental secrecy was professional secrecy, “in the same way as medical secrecy or the relationship between a lawyer and his client “. But priests and chaplains do not appear in any legal text devoted to “professional secrecy” , unlike lawyers or doctors .

This interpretation is therefore based only on old decisions of the criminal chamber of the Court of Cassation. “The secrecy of confession, as opposability to the obligation to denounce a crime, is a construction of jurisprudence” , explains to franceinfo the lawyer Antoinette Fréty, heard by the Senate in 2019 and by the independent commission on sexual abuse in Church .

To tell the truth , the texts invoked are very old. In 1891, the Court of Cassation considered that the priests were “required to keep secret the revelations which may have been made to them by reason of their function (…) by way of of confession or out of this sacrament “. At that time, the law of separation of Church and State had not yet been passed. More recently, in 2002, a decision of the Court of Cassation recognized “the obligation imposed on ministers of religion to keep the secret of the facts of which they are aware in the exercise of their ministry”.

Today, a person subject to professional secrecy risks one year in prison , in the event of disclosure of secret information. But exceptions have been put in place in the case of sexual violence committed against minors or vulnerable people. Since 1994, “the Penal Code makes it possible to lift professional secrecy in the event of sexual crimes committed against minors of 15 years” , explains Antoinette Fréty. “ Doctors and lawyers cannot be prosecuted for breach of this professional secrecy. ” They must even report infringements brought to their attention. Therefore, how to justify silence in the context of a confession?

In his explanations on Wednesday evening, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort believes that lifting the secrecy of the confession “would be counterproductive” vis-à-vis the victims. “Would they confide if they knew it was not secret?” , he wonders. On franceinfo, he made a difference between the time of “confession” , inviolable, and the moment of the “confidence” . “The secret of confession is not the end of everything, it is not a hat on the crime but on the contrary an opening” , explains to franceinfo the priest Thomas Poussier, author of the book Secret de confession . “When I see a woman beaten by her husband, I suggest that she talk about it after confession.”

Thomas Poussier therefore calls for strengthening the training of priests, to help them find the right people and resources, such as the toll-free number 119 of Allo childhood in danger. This proposal had already been formulated by the Conference of Bishops of France, in a note dated December 2020: “The priest who has received information outside the framework of confession can make an exception to professional secrecy or even, in certain cases, must do so. “

This last idea makes Antoinette Fréty jump. “Who will be able to verify that the child has been properly accompanied to give his testimony again ? “ asks the lawyer. “And then, c e is not for the child to repeat several times. It is up to the adult to fulfill the reporting obligations. ” This distinction between “confession” and “confidence” did not convince the members of the commission either, who consider it quite illusory that underage victims can reformulate at will. testimonies, in and outside the confessional.

“The secrecy of confession is not made for the victims. It is made to allow the Church to defend itself. ”

Antoinette Fréty, lawyer

at franceinfo

This is also the opinion of the anthropologist Laëtitia Atlani-Duault, member of the independent commission on sexual abuse in the Church . The secrecy of confession “can be a weapon of massive silence on sexual violence” committed by members of the Church, estimates the researcher in The World. “After having spoken to priests, very few victims see their cases reported to justice, with the justification that their words have been heard in confession.”

The members of the committee draw very firm conclusions on how to consider the “professional secrecy” of priests and clerics. These cannot “derogate from the obligation (…) to report cases of sexual violence inflicted on a minor or a vulnerable person to the judicial and administrative authorities” . In its argument, the commission denounces a contradiction between “secret of confession” and necessary ” protection of life and of person “, present in the Ten Commandments . Of course, it leaves it to the Catholic Church to resolve this dilemma itself.