CUA Law Professor Mary G. Leary was interviewed by WWL First News regarding the seal of confession and child abuse on July 2, 2019.

The seal of confession should be broken if it means saving kids

July 2, 2019
Tommy Tucker, WWL First News

“The defense of the sacramental seal and the sanctity of confession can never constitute some form of connivance with evil, on the contrary, they represent the only true antidote to evil that threatens man and the whole world,” states the note signed by the head of the penitentiary, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza on July 1. What all of the above means, simply stated, is that if you’re a priest hearing the confession of a pedophile who says he’s molesting a child, you can’t tell anyone. You can’t tell the police. You can’t tell the Bishop. You can’t tell parents to keep their kids away the pedophile. In other words, you forgive the offender and send him on his way. Most experts will tell you a pedophile cannot be cured; so odds are you’re sending him off, cleansed of his sins, to victimize more children.