Louisiana Judge Rules That Priests Don’t Have to Report Abuse if They Hear It During Confession

[Jim Lane]

60. Such a privilege is traditionally considered that of the client/patient/parishioner

I'm a lawyer. If a client tells me something in the course of the representation, I'm not allowed to communicate it and I can't be compelled by subpoena to disclose it. BUT the privilege is my client's to waive. My client can testify about our conversation and can authorize me to do so. One really striking thing about this case is that the church tried to prevent the abuse victim from testifying about what she told the priest. That's outlandish.

Any rule that excludes certain evidence will, to some extent, impair the ability of courts to get at the truth. In the case of a privilege like this one, that's considered an acceptable price to pay in order to encourage totally open communications in certain situations where that's deemed to have a social value. To achieve that purpose, however, it's not necessary to give the priest or lawyer or doctor a right that can be asserted independently. The purpose is to protect the person making the communication. If that person is OK with the disclosure, then there's no logical basis for the priest to refuse to testify.