For the second time in three years, lawmakers have proposed a bill that would require religious leaders to report suspected cases of child abuse, even if they learn about that abuse in the privacy of a religious confession.
The Diocese of Manchester opposes the bill, saying it would interfere with religious freedom without making children safer.
Robert Araujo at MOJ comments:
After reading Rick’s posting and other materials associated with this development, I discovered that the current bill before the State legislature is very limited in its scope and undermines only one privilege. While the legislators are at it, why not expand the coverage and add the doctor-patient privilege, the spousal privilege, the lawyer-client privilege? They, too, can insulate many items from public scrutiny including child abuse. So why just this privilege involving the seal of the confessional? I can imagine many scenarios in which doctors and lawyers would have information concerning these tragic kinds of cases but their privilege is not before the legislature.
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