A foretaste of things to come has arrived to the
Christian Church in Australia. Secular power has demanded under legislation
that all Christian Ministers who hear Confessions; a practice carried out by
Catholics, Orthodox, Coptics, Assyrians, Anglicans, Lutherans and even marginal
groups like the Mormons; are under obligation to break confessional confidentiality,
and denounce their own parishioners, when they encounter a repentant paedophile
in confession.
Even though, the confidentiality of Confession is
not expressly mentioned in the Bible, this confidentiality is an essential part
of the practice of Confession.
In John 20:23, Lord Jesus gave power to the
Apostles, to absolve and retain sins on individuals, by conferring upon them,
the same authority to forgive sins He Himself had (Luke 5:24; John 20:21-23).
However, Lord Jesus never stipulated a specific manner to do it, and not as the
only via of forgiveness in the Christian Church.
The Power of the Keys, given to Peter and the
Apostles (Matthew 16:18; 18:18) was the authority, in the Name of Jesus Christ,
to absolve sins committed against God and the community, more than of a
personal nature. In order to provide people with confidence to approach Absolution,
discretion and privacy were ensured on behalf of Confessor.
If the Minister hearing the confessions stands in
place of Jesus, it is understood that once confessed, those sins are removed from
God’s presence and cannot be brought back to memory again (Isaiah 1:18), as if
they were still current. And these same principles are the ones under attack from
the secular government.
There are three manners to practice Confession
without the interference of any other agent. In this case, my recommendation
will be:
1 – DO NOT
REVEAL THE SIN. It would be impossible for the government to find out what
was said in the confessional. To disobey civil power for doing God’s Work, it
is not sinful.
2 – ABSOLVE SINS WITHOUT HEARING
CONFESSION. To be effective the Confession, all the penitent
needs is to feel repentance, have the purpose of changing, and request to be
absolved. So it is enough to pray to God requesting forgiveness and to provide
Absolution, without hearing a detailed report of the penitents sins committed.
3 – GENERAL ABSOLUTION. As
it is the usage among the Assyrians, Anglicans and some Orthodox; a General
Absolution is provided at every service to all those assisting. A strong
pastoral follow up will be required after that on a permanent basis, but at
least in this case, as in the second, no knowledge of particulars will be passed
on.
CONCLUSION
This is only a speck of things to come in due time.
This will move the Christian community to change practices and policies to fit
the times and preserve her faithfulness to our Lord Jesus Christ.
We must support our Ministers in this difficult
situation and show determination. AS bad as this policy may be, it will provide
an opportunity for a public testimony of our faith, the True Christian Faith,
more precious than Gold.
Omar Flores.
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