This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Seal of the Confessional in the Catholic Church" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Part of a series on
Penance and Reconciliation in the Catholic Church
Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation Contrition Seal of the Confessional Misericordia Dei Reconciliatio et paenitentia Denial and Restoration of Peter Apostolic Penitentiary Lamentabili sane exitu
Catholicism portal
v t e

Part of a series on the
Jurisprudence of Catholic canon law
Current law 1983 Code of Canon Law Omnium in mentem Magnum principium Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches Ad tuendam fidem Ex corde Ecclesiae Indulgentiarum Doctrina Pastor bonus Pontificalis Domus Veritatis gaudium Custom
Legal history 1917 Code of Canon Law Corpus Juris Canonici Decretist Regulæ Juris Decretals of Gregory IX Decretalist Decretum Gratiani Extravagantes Liber Septimus Ancient Church Orders Didache The Apostolic Constitutions Canons of the Apostles Collections of ancient canons Collectiones canonum Dionysianae Collectio canonum quadripartita Collectio canonum Quesnelliana Collectio canonum Wigorniensis Other Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals Benedictus Deus (Pius IV) Contractum trinius Defect of Birth Jus exclusivae Papal appointment
Oriental law Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches Eastern Canonical Reforms of Pius XII Nomocanon Archeparchy Eparchy
Liturgical law Ecclesia Dei Mysterii Paschalis Sacrosanctum concilium Musicam sacram Summorum Pontificum Tra le sollecitudini
Sacramental law Canon 844 Ex opere operato Omnium in mentem Valid but illicit Holy Orders Impediment (canon law) Abstemius Clerical celibacy (Catholic Church) Nullity of Sacred Ordination Apostolicae curae Dimissorial letters Approbation Confession Apostolic Penitentiary Complicit absolution Canon penitentiary Internal forum Paenitentiale Theodori Penitential canons Seal of the Confessional Eucharist Eucharistic discipline Canon 915
Matrimonial law Banns of Marriage Declaration of Nullity Matrimonial Nullity Trial Reforms of Pope Francis Defender of the Bond Impediments to Marriage Affinity Bigamy Clandestinity Impediment of crime Disparity of Cult Ligamen Matrimonial Dispensation Ratum sed non consummatum Sanatio in radice Natural marriage Pauline privilege Petrine privilege
Trials and tribunals Tribunals Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura Tribunal of the Roman Rota Apostolic Penitentiary Tribunal Officers Judicial Vicar/Officialis Auditor Advocatus Diaboli Defender of the Bond Tribunal Procedure Appeal as from an abuse Presumption
Canonical structures Particular churches Particular churches sui juris Latin Church Eastern Catholic Churches Local particular churches Abbacy nullius Abbot nullius Apostolic vicariate Apostolic vicar Apostolic administration Apostolic administrator Archdiocese Diocese Aeque principaliter Cathedraticum In persona episcopi Chancery Deanery Vicar forane Archeparchy Eparchy Military ordinariate Mission sui juris Personal ordinariate Anglicanorum Coetibus Personal Prelature Juridic persons Parish Roman Curia Dicastery Congregation Pontifical council
Jurisprudence Benefice Canonical coronation Canonically crowned images Computation of time Contract law Custom Delegata potestas non potest delegari Derogation Dispensation Taxa Innocentiana Indult Impediment Interpretation Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts Jurisdiction Peritus Obreption & subreption Obrogation Promulgation Resignation of the Roman Pontiff Sede vacante Vacatio legis Valid but illicit
Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory Theology Ecclesiology Treatise on Law Determinatio
Law of persons Person (canon law) Canonical age Canonical faculties Clerics and public office Clerical celebacy Consecrated life Defect of Birth Emancipation Juridic & physical persons Jus patronatus Laicization (dispensation)
Canonical documents Acta Apostolicae Sedis Acta Sanctae Sedis Notary (canon law) Protonotary apostolic Apostolic constitution Canon Concordat Decree Decretal Encyclical Motu proprio Ordinance Papal brief Papal bull Penitential Positive law Rescript
Penal law Canon 1324 Canon 1398 Censure (canon law) Excommunication List of excommunicable offences in the Catholic Church List of people excommunicated by the Catholic Church List of excommunicated cardinals Interdict Internal forum Laicization (penal) Latae sententiae Lifetime of prayer and penance
Procedural law Election of the Roman Pontiff Universi Dominici gregis Papal renunciation
Academic degrees Licentiate of Canon Law Doctor of Canon Law Doctor Juris Utriusque
Catholicism portal
v t e

In the Catholic Church, the Seal of Confession (or Seal of the Confessional) is the absolute duty of priests not to disclose anything that they learn from penitents during the course of the Sacrament of Penance (confession). Even where the seal of confession does not strictly apply – where there is no specific serious sin confessed for the purpose of receiving absolution – priests have a serious obligation not to cause scandal by the way they speak.^[1]

History[edit]

Gratian, who compiled the edicts of previous Catholic Ecumenical Councils and the principles of church law, published the Decretum about 1151. It includes the following declaration of the law as to the seal of confession: "Let the priest who dares to make known the sins of his penitent be deposed." Gratian goes on to say that the violator of this law should be made a lifelong, ignominious wanderer.^[2]

Canon 21 of the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215), binding on the whole church, laid down the obligation of secrecy in the following words:

Let the priest absolutely beware that he does not by word or sign or by any manner whatever in any way betray the sinner: but if he should happen to need wiser counsel let him cautiously seek the same without any mention of person. For whoever shall dare to reveal a sin disclosed to him in the tribunal of penance we decree that he shall be not only deposed from the priestly office but that he shall also be sent into the confinement of a monastery to do perpetual penance.

— Hefele-Leclercq, Histoire des Conciles at the year 1215; Mansi or Harduin, "Coll. conciliorum"

Notably, neither this canon nor the law of the Decretum purports to enact for the first time the secrecy of confession.^[3] The 15th century English canonist William Lyndwood speaks of two reasons why a priest is bound to keep secret a confession, the first being on account of the sacrament because it is almost (quasi) of the essence of the sacrament to keep secret the confession.^{[4][clarification needed]}

In practice[edit]

According to Roman Catholic canon law, "The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason." The confessor is always an ordained priest, because in the Catholic Church only ordained priests can absolve sins; lay confession is not recognized. Any person who overhears a confession is likewise bound by the seal.^[5]

Priests may not reveal what they have learned during confession to anyone, even under the threat of their own death or that of others. For a priest to break secrecy would lead to a latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication, the lifting of which is reserved to the Holy See – in fact, to the Pope himself.^[6] In the Early Modern period, some casuists (Thomas Sanchez, etc.) justified mental reservation, a form of deception which does not involve outright lying, in specific circumstances including when such an action is necessary to protect secrecy under the seal of the confessional. Other casuists considered "grey areas" in which it was unclear whether or not the seal was being violated.^{[citation needed]} A priest who says "I do not know" is thus to be understood "I do not know with knowledge outside the Seal of the Confessional"; St. Thomas Aquinas goes even farther and says that the priest knows the confession “not as man, but as God knows it.”^[7]

There are limited cases where portions of a confession may be revealed to others, but always with the penitent's permission and always without actually revealing the penitent's identity. This is the case, for example, with more serious offenses, as some excommunicable offenses are reserved to the Holy See and their permission to grant absolution must be obtained.^{[citation needed]} In these cases, the priest hearing the confession asks the permission of the penitent to write a petition, using pseudonyms and containing the absolute minimum information necessary, to the bishop or to the Apostolic Penitentiary, the cardinal delegated by the Pope to handle such requests. This request may be forwarded, sealed, through the apostolic delegate or nuncio in a country (the Pope's ambassador), to be guarded by the privilege of a diplomatic pouch.^{[citation needed]}

Recognition by civil authorities[edit]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Seal of the Confessional in the Catholic Church" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The law of different jurisdictions in general requires people under certain circumstances to testify about facts known to them. In many cases the rule of evidence of confessional privilege forbids judicial inquiry into communications made under the seal of confession.

There may be conflict between the obligation of confidentiality of confession and civil law. The US state of Louisiana's Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that a priest may be compelled to testify about what he was told in the confessional regarding a particular sexual abuse case, leaving the priest at risk of excommunication if he even confirms that a confession took place, or jail for contempt of court should he refuse to testify.^[8] However, the Court later ruled that a priest has no duty to report confidential information heard during a sacramental confession.^[9]

See also[edit]

• Confessional privilege in the United States


• 
  Pedro Marieluz Garces, martyr of the Seal of the Confessional


• 
  I Confess, a 1953 Alfred Hitchcock film in which priest-penitent privilege is prominently featured


• 
  John of Nepomuk, the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional


• 
  Mateo Correa Magallanes, martyr of the Seal of the Confessional


• Priest-penitent privilege


• Priest-penitent privilege in England


• Priest-penitent privilege in France


• Seal of the Confessional and the Anglican Church


• Seal of the Confessional and the Lutheran Church

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• 
   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "The Law of the Seal of Confession" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.