On Monday, the Vatican, with the approval of Pope Francis, released the
Note of the Apostolic Penitentiary on the Importance of the Internal Forum and the Inviolability of the Sacramental Seal.(Full text in Italian.) The
Note reads in part [unofficial translation]:
Any political action or legislative initiative aimed at "forcing" the inviolability of the sacramental seal would constitute an unacceptable offense against the libertas Ecclesiae , which does not receive its legitimacy from individual States, but from God; it would also constitute a violation of religious freedom, legally fundamental to all other freedoms, including the freedom of conscience of individual citizens, both penitents and confessors. Breaking the seal would be tantamount to violating the poor who is in the sinner.
The Apostolic Penitentiary is a Vatican tribunal dealing with issues of confession and absolution. According to an
AP report, Cardinal Piacenza, head of the tribunal, issued a statement interpreting the Note, and saying in part:
It’s opportune to make clear that the text of the statement cannot and doesn’t want to be in any way a justification or a form of tolerance of the abhorrent cases of abuse perpetrated by members of the clergy.
No compromise is acceptable in promoting the protection of minors and of vulnerable persons and in preventing and combatting every form of abuse, in the spirit of that which has been constantly reiterated (by Francis).
[Thanks to Tom Rutledge for the lead.]
