INDEPENDENT senator Nick Xenophon has called on the Catholic Church to remove the sanctity of the confessional for child abuse cases. The South Australian senator yesterday said it was wrong, in light of complaints that the Archbishop of Adelaide, Phillip Wilson, mishandled and covered up alleged sexual abuse by clergymen in the 1970s and 80s, for the confessional to be exempt from mandatory reporting laws.
"I can't comment on the specific allegations against the archbishop, but what I can say is this should prompt a debate about the sanctity of the confessional and the role the church has had in relation to information raised about child sexual abuse," Senator Xenophon said yesterday.
"There are now mandatory reporting requirements but the confessional is exempt."
Archbishop Wilson has not spoken publicly about allegations he was involved in a "conspiracy of silence" about the abuse by fellow clergy of a 12-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl in the diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.
A church spokeswoman said the allegations were completely without basis.
Senator Xenophon said current laws required priests to report sexual abuse cases to police only if they come to light outside the confession booth.
He said the church should declare its protocols "so the public knows what the church does in the case of allegations of abuse in the confessional".
"If someone has confessed to a priest with information about the abuse of children, whether they're the perpetrator or not, then shouldn't the authorities know about that?" he said.
SIC: TAUS