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Confession of killing someone.

lildude30894lildude30894
edited December 1969 in Youth Corner
If a man killed someone and confessed to a priest and the priest was sent to court for some info on the man. Would the priest tell the judge what he did and not his name or not tell him anything at all?

Comments

  • PrincessMaryPrincessMary
    I believe priests are not allowed to say confessions of anyone unless they are dead, so I dont think they would be telling the judges anything. But why the question, are you planning on killing anyone :P ;)
  • lildude30894lildude30894
    naw just wonderin
  • Unknown
    No, but they would try to convince them to confess..or actually demand them to confess sometimes..I mean, I'm not into the whole government interfering with one's personal conscience and whatnot but perhaps that's what's right and as a father of confession, it may be his duty to influence justice..
  • mtanious32mtanious32
    Abouna would not say anything because confession is like a pact between you and Abouna and he's not allowed to repeat your sins to anyone, but he would highly encourage you to confess to the crime and turn yourself in....I had a similar question like this and I asked the sevrants in my church and i asked my priests because me and my priests are tight!
  • joegjoeg
    abouna is not allowed to tell someone your sins because they are private to God. abouna shouldnt do it because he is just a human and can therefore be tempted himself. its kinda a sticky topic............ i suppose teh government could try and force it out of him.............................NOT sure :-\ ?
  • Kristina123Kristina123
    welll according to section 127 of the Evidence Act 1995 that applies in Australia:

    EVIDENCE ACT 1995 - SECT 127
    Religious confessions
    (1) A person who is or was a member of the clergy of any church or religious denomination is entitled to refuse to divulge that a religious confession was made, or the contents of a religious confession made, to the person when a member of the clergy.

    (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the communication involved in the religious confession was made for a criminal purpose.

    (3) This section applies even if an Act provides:

    (a) that the rules of evidence do not apply or that a person or body is not bound by the rules of evidence; or

    (b) that a person is not excused from answering any question or producing any document or other thing on the ground of privilege or any other ground.

    (4) In this section:

    "religious confession" means a confession made by a person to a member of the clergy in the member’s professional capacity according to the ritual of the church or religious denomination concerned.


    basically means that a priest can not be forced to give evidence in court about a confession that is they dont have to tell anyone that even a confession was made!!
  • joegjoeg
    yes ok thats what its like in Australia a democratic country. in a dicatatorship some1 could try and force a confession out of a priest
  • shadowshadow

    a prist would tell the murder to confess and not let guilt consume him! with a sin that bad he should confess and ask god for forgiveness.
    Also when the guy get to heaven (after asking for forgiveness) he should apolagise to the person.

    but why do you ask? :-\
  • Unknown
    This is all just what I learned in the law class I'm in, so be forewarned, it may not be 100% right:

    In Canada, there are rules regarding the admissiblity of evidence in a court proceeding. If a person is accused of murder, and the Crown wants to call a priest as a witness to say "Yes, the defendant told me in confession he killed this person" they cannot because a confession goes under the category of "Priviledged Communications".

    Priviledged Communications are private conversations/other forms of communication (letters, emails etc...) between two people (usually the defendant and another party) that cannot be admitted as evidence in court unless the other party allows it. A communication is considered "priviledged" if the second party is the defendant's spouse, priest/other religious clergy member/ lawyer/usually their doctor, and the list goes on and on.

    The only time a priviledged communication must be revealed to the court is usually in cases of spousal abuse, so they will force the wife to testify against her husband, specifically if he made any threats/emotionally abusive statements.

    So in other words, in Canada, a priest cannot be forced to reveal the contents of a confession in criminal court. And if the priest does it by choice, then that's an issue between the priest and Pope Shenouda...I believe a priest can get ex-communicated if he tells somebody's confession to anybody else, but again, I'm not sure.
  • Kristina123Kristina123
    consent of the other party refers to the defendant that is the accused not the priest! it all goes to the accused right to silence and is therefore not to be admitted as evidence in court unless of course the accused agrees (which is highly unlikely). if the priest does reveal confessions and it is admitted as evidence the accused can appeal and have the trial dismissed and any convictions quashed and possibly a retrial. its all about the rights of the accused.!!

    interesting to see that the law of Canada is similar to Australia!!

    oh and by the way please dont kill anyone!! (25years to life in gaol!!)

    if you have done so, speak to your lawyer and possibly hand yourself in! oh and confess!

    Kristina123
  • micha_elmicha_el
    Do you don't know that priests forget the confessions.
  • spr418spr418
    as an answer to your question, the court by law can not ask the priest to be a witness, because the priest did not see the killer killing. The killer told the priest something between them, and the priest should know that the person was confessing to the Lord, not to him, so his job is guiding and then giving the absolution only and not going to courts and be witness..thats what my sunday school teacher told me!

    GBU
    sandra
  • Unknown
    [quote author=Kristina123 link=board=13;threadid=3800;start=0#msg54323 date=1147164047]
    interesting to see that the law of Canada is similar to Australia!!


    Probably because they're both under the Queen of England, and have legal systems based on the British one.
  • boulestboulest
    You guys are forgetting a very important part of the confession, which is repentant. Repentant means that Abouna will not give this man forgiveness unless he is fully repented, which means that he will have to go and give himself up and take the punishment for his crime (sin). That is being said, there is not much for Abouna to be worried about.
  • spr418spr418
    then are you saying that the priest should let the killer go confess to the judge..aren't u suppose to only confess to ur FOC?

    GBU
    sandra
  • BespetnaBespetna
    [quote author=lildude30894 link=board=13;threadid=3800;start=0#msg53819 date=1146513265]
    If a man killed someone and confessed to a priest and the priest was sent to court for some info on the man. Would the priest tell the judge what he did and not his name or not tell him anything at all?

    Yea thats correct. ALso the judge can excuse them for relegious beleaf
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