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Michael Ejercito wrote:

HeartDoc Andrew, in the Holy Spirit, boldly wrote:

Michael Ejercito wrote:

HeartDoc Andrew, in the Holy Spirit, boldly wrote:

Michael Ejercito wrote:

https://jeffjacoby.com/26819/lawmakers-challenge-the-secrecy-of


Lawmakers challenge the secrecy of the confessional
by Jeff Jacoby
The Boston Globe
March 12, 2023

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HERE IS a proposition no reasonable person could argue with: There must >>>>> be laws protecting minors from abuse and neglect and bringing those who >>>>> hurt children to justice. Every state has such laws on its books.
Here is a second proposition: People in professions that involve
frequent contact with children, such as social workers, teachers,
doctors, or nurses, should be "mandated reporters" — i.e., required by >>>>> law to notify officials when they learn or suspect that a child is being >>>>> abused. That too is the law in every state. Some go even further,
requiring all persons, regardless of their profession, to report
suspected abuse or neglect.

Now consider a different kind of proposition, also broadly accepted: >>>>> Some relationships between two people, like that between a clergy member >>>>> and a penitent, are so important to society, and so dependent on
absolute trust, that the law cannot compel one party to reveal what the >>>>> other has said in confidence. There are only a few such privileged
relationships (attorney-client and doctor-patient are the others), and >>>>> they have been rooted in American law for 200 years.

Until very recently, these three propositions coexisted everywhere,
striking a balance between the best interests of children and the
imperative of religious freedom.

But in a handful of states, including Vermont, Washington, and Delaware, >>>>> there are now legislative efforts to overrule the clergy-penitent
privilege. That would mean that priests could be required to report
information even when it was obtained under the seal of the confessional >>>>> — a violation so grave in the eyes of the Catholic Church that a priest >>>>> who commits it is punished with automatic excommunication. (Though the >>>>> Catholic stricture on the secrecy of confession is the best known, other >>>>> religious denominations — among them, Episcopalianism, Orthodox
Christianity, and Mormonism — also obligate clergy to keep a penitent's >>>>> confession secret.)

There is little doubt that these bills are being advanced with the best >>>>> of intentions. In Vermont, for example, the sponsor of the legislation >>>>> is state Senator Dick Sears, a Bennington Democrat who chairs the
Judiciary Committee and has long been a leader in efforts to protect >>>>> vulnerable children. He hadn't realized that the law making clergy
members mandated reporters exempted information acquired in the
confessional, he told the Associated Press, and his bill is intended to >>>>> end that exemption.

"My gut reaction is nobody should get a free pass," Sears said.

But is there any evidence that child abusers are getting a "free pass" >>>>> because the law protects the secrecy of religious confession? As it
happens, that issue has been intensively studied in the wake of the
sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, which was exposed by the >>>>> Globe in 2002. According to Eric Kniffin, a civil rights attorney and a >>>>> fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, "more than a dozen
in-depth grand jury or attorney general reports have been produced since >>>>> 2002, yet none have pointed to the sacrament of confession as a
contributing factor, let alone a major factor [in protecting abusers]." >>>>>
Perhaps, as Bishop Christopher Coyne, the head of Vermont's Catholic >>>>> diocese, observed when he testified at a legislative hearing on March 3, >>>>> that is because the rule of secrecy does not apply in any religious
setting outside the confessional. Priests and other clergy members
acquire considerable information in non-confessional settings, none of >>>>> which is exempt from being reported. "The conversations that we have in >>>>> our offices, the counseling sessions that we do, the spiritual direction >>>>> that we do — none of that is privileged, and it is all included under >>>>> the mandatory reporting statutes," Coyne told lawmakers.

The point is deepened by the American theologian Cathy Caridi. "Priests >>>>> can find ways to help the authorities without revealing the content of a >>>>> person's confession," Caridi writes in her blog on canon law. If a
penitent indicates that he intends to kill or harm someone, a priest can >>>>> alert the police that the intended victim is in danger, as long as he >>>>> does not disclose how he obtained the information. She describes a case >>>>> "in which police received a phone call from a priest, warning them that >>>>> two teenaged sisters were in danger at that very moment. The police
understood that the priest was not permitted to give them more specific >>>>> information, and simply located the girls . . . and made sure they were >>>>> protected." The priest in that instance was able to help thwart a crime >>>>> without violating the sacramental seal.

The privileged status of clergy-pentitent communications has been
recognized in US common law since at least as early as 1813, reinforced >>>>> by statute in every state and in judicial decisions. In a 1990 case, the >>>>> US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that "the
clergy-communicant relationship is so important, indeed so fundamental >>>>> to the western tradition, that it must be sedulously fostered."

As a practical matter, abrogating the penitential privilege isn't likely >>>>> to elicit any information that is now kept confidential: Priests are >>>>> taught that they must be willing to face prison, torture, or death
rather than break the seal of the confessional. In any case, priests >>>>> frequently don't know the identity of the person making a confession. >>>>> "The overwhelming majority of sacramental confessions are anonymous," >>>>> the Diocese of Wilmington noted in its statement on the proposed
Delaware law.

The First Amendment's forceful language banning legislators from
"prohibiting the free exercise" of religion doesn't empower religions or >>>>> their adherents to flout laws that are applicable to everyone. But as >>>>> the Supreme Court has ruled time and again, any law that impinges on a >>>>> particular religious belief or practice — even when its purpose is to >>>>> advance a vital public goal — must be drawn as narrowly as possible. >>>>> Preventing and punishing child abuse is unquestionably a compelling
interest. But is it compelling enough to allow Vermont, Washington, and >>>>> Delaware to uproot the longstanding legal protection of confessional >>>>> secrecy? To clear the First Amendment's hurdle, they would have to show >>>>> why they cannot fight child abuse without trampling on a key religious >>>>> belief when more than 40 states are able to do so.

Protecting children is a matter of crucial importance. Protecting
religious faith is too. It isn't the job of lawmakers to privilege one >>>>> of those worthy aims over the other. It is to strive, with care and
respect, to do both.

"Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness (secrecy),
but rather expose them." (Ephesians 5:11 w/ parenthetical
clarification)

Source:
https://biblehub.com/ephesians/5-11.htm

In the interim, the only *healthy* way to eradicate the COVID-19
virus, thereby saving lives, in the US & elsewhere is by rapidly (
http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19 ) finding out at any given moment,
including even while on-line, who among us are unwittingly contagious
(i.e pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic) in order to
http://WDJW.great-site.net/ConvinceItForward (John 15:12) for them to
call their doctor and self-quarantine per their doctor in hopes of
stopping this pandemic. Thus, we're hoping for the best while
preparing for the worse-case scenario of the Alpha lineage mutations
and others like the Omicron, Gamma, Beta, Epsilon, Iota, Lambda, Mu &
Delta lineage mutations combining via slip-RNA-replication to form
hybrids like http://tinyurl.com/Deltamicron that may render current
COVID vaccines/monoclonals/medicines/pills no longer effective.

Indeed, I am wonderfully hungry ( http://tinyurl.com/RapidOmicronTest
) and hope you, Michael, also have a healthy appetite too.

So how are you ?

I am wonderfully hungry!

While wonderfully hungry in the Holy Spirit, Who causes (Deuteronomy
8:3) us to hunger, I note that you, Michael, are rapture ready (Luke
17:37 means no COVID just as eagles circling over their food have no
COVID) and pray (2 Chronicles 7:14) that our Everlasting (Isaiah 9:6)
Father in Heaven continues to give us "much more" (Luke 11:13) Holy
Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) so that we'd have much more of His Help to
always say/write that we're "wonderfully hungry" in **all** ways
including especially caring to
http://WDJW.great-site.net/ConvinceItForward (John 15:12 as shown by
http://tinyurl.com/RapidOmicronTest ) with all glory (
http://bit.ly/Psalm112_1 ) to GOD (aka HaShem, Elohim, Abba, DEO), in
the name (John 16:23) of LORD Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.

Laus DEO !

Suggested further reading:
https://groups.google.com/g/sci.med.cardiology/c/5EWtT4CwCOg/m/QjNF57xRBAAJ >>
Shorter link:
http://bit.ly/StatCOVID-19Test

Thank you for noting that I have no COVID.

Laus DEO (Psalm 112:1)

Be hungrier, which really is wonderfully healthier especially for
diabetics and other heart disease patients:

http://bit.ly/HeartDocAndrew touts hunger (Luke 6:21a) with all glory
( http://bit.ly/Psalm112_1 ) to GOD, Who causes us to hunger
(Deuteronomy 8:3) when He blesses us right now (Luke 6:21a) thereby
removing the http://WDJW.great-site.net/VAT from around the heart

...because we mindfully choose to openly care with our heart,

HeartDoc Andrew <><
--
Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Cardiologist with an http://bit.ly/EternalMedicalLicense
2024 & upwards non-partisan candidate for U.S. President: http://WonderfullyHungry.org
and author of the 2PD-OMER Approach:
http://bit.ly/HeartDocAndrewCare
which is the only **healthy** cure for the U.S. healthcare crisis

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