Should a Priest ,Elder ,Pastor withold a crime from the relevant authorities because of a confidential confessional ?

by smiddy 17 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  cha ching

  The leadership of JW's have to be concerned that people will question how God's Holy Spirit" and "Christ's leadership" could result in the problems that are occurring & have occurred with child sex abuse in the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses.

  In addition, remember when homosexuality and bestiality were not grounds for divorce? An "adjustment in policy" had to be made. One has to wonder, if Jesus took charge in 1919, how does one explain how these harmful policies hurt the sheep in "God's organization"? The Society wants to avoid answering these questions.

  That is why, as Irwin Zalkin (defense attorney for 18 child abuse cases) said, "The WT is acting more like a business."
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  nicolaou

  Why is this even a question anymore? Seriously?
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  cha ching

  When questions are asked, it makes people think.... People need to realize a change is needed.
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  schnell

  I am not in favor of ecclesiastical privilege and would happily vote against it.
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  TTWSYF

  If clergy could go the the authorities to report crimes confessed to a priest, then 2 negative things would happen.

  FIrst, the clergy could not council the confessor about making amends for his/her crime AND folks would not confess their crimes/sins anymore making an effective council impossible.

  Just common sense.

  Book of acts, people have been confessing their sins since the beginning of the Christian church
• 

  Vidiot

  TTFSYF - "If clergy could go the the authorities to report crimes confessed to a priest, then 2 negative things would happen... FIrst, the clergy could not council the confessor about making amends for his/her crime AND folks would not confess their crimes/sins anymore making an effective council impossible."

  Dude...

  

  ...seriously?
• 

  StephaneLaliberte

  I believe in the secret of confession. If a molester confessed to a priest, would he have done so if he knew he could be reported to the authorities? The pedophile relied on the secrecy of confession. Because of this arrangement, we now have a priest who can go back to the pedophile at various times and heavily encourage him to make things right with God and seek help through the judicial system. In addition, that same priest could take actions to protect the victims, without actually breaking his vow of secrecy.

  Regardless of the laws, Catholics uphold this. And even if the laws are there, they are impossible to enforce/prove. Reason being that confessions are only heard by the priest and the perpetrator.

  On the other hand, this scenario does not apply to the JWs. If a molester confesses to an elder, he knows there will be consequences. The parents of the victim, another elder, and a report to the society will be made. At least 8 people will know about this. If there is another victim, there will be a JC with a total of 12 people aware of the situation, and if he appeals the first JC, there will be 15 people aware of that pedophile. And none of them will report it to the authorities. SMH.
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  Anony Mous

  In many jurisdictions it is illegal to not report to the authorities if you are aware of any child abuse (sexual or not). This also applies, in most cases, to clergy.

  In JW-land, it has been proven time and again that clergy-penitent privilege, even if it would apply, does not apply due to the fact that these things are either recorded, discussed internally (between elders) or reported to the host organization.

  According to a number of (supreme) courts, clergy-penitent privilege, if it applies, ONLY applies between the clergy that heard it and the penitent, so a priest, elder, pastor, ... cannot share that information with anyone else or write it down. If they do (there is no law saying such privilege HAS to be honored) the privilege no longer applies.