Well, the idea of the Sacrament of Penance (Confession), is that there is a sacred trust so that the person confessing can feel certain that whatever he/she say will never be revealed. In our seminary training, we were taught that if something was said in confession that needed to be revealed to the proper authorities, the priest was to do his best to convince the confessor to talk with the priest about it outside the sacrament, so that it could be revealed.

Somehow, I think we all should be allowed that trust sometimes, that we can say what we want without fear of being reported.

I think that in almost all situations, the issue of breaking the "seal of confession" is purely hypothetical, but it sure can get people riled up.

And it does seem to me that Archbishop Hart is trying to make a real issue out of a hypothetical one.

-Joe-