The Government is being urged to avoid the use of “megaphone diplomacy” when it comes to the issue of the confessional.
In the wake of the Cloyne report on the handling of clerical child abuse allegations, the Justice Minister Alan Shatter is calling for legislation to make it mandatory to report crimes – regardless of any internal rules of a religion.
This would mean what is said in confession would not remain private.
Broadcaster and rector of the monastery in Enniskillen Father Brian d’Arcy says the Minister should avoid making laws to govern the confessional box – because child abuse is rarely admitted or reported during confession:
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