Im not sure how to swallow
this news bit from LOsservatore Romano on Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, of the Apostolic Penitentiary. The bishop says, according to the CNS distillation:
(T)he confession (of a priest sex offender) can only have absolution as a consequence. It is not up to the confessor to make them public or to ask the penitent to incriminate himself in front of superiors. This is true because, on one hand, the sacramental seal remains inviolable and, on the other hand, one cannot provoke mistrust in the penitent. From the confessor, (the penitent) can only expect absolution, certainly not a sentence nor the order to confess his crime in public.
First, I understand that the nuance of an interview two times removed from the actual talk is sometimes difficult to discern.
That said, I dont know that any reasonable person is demanding that sex offenders be outed by their confessors. Sure, a few politicians and activists: maybe. But cooler heads? No.
Yet, the traditional practice of the sacrament would have a confession, an act of satisfaction, and an absolution. Im aware that the current practice reverses the order of the final two. Father Frank Pavone, in speaking of another grave sin,
has some sound counsel that might apply: