PELECEHAN SEKSUAL, KEWAJIBAN MELAPOR DAN RESPONS ORDINARIS: TELAAH KRITIS “VOS ESTIS LUX MUNDI” DAN “VADEMECUM”

<em>This article aims to examine the question of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults by clerics and members of the Institute for Consecrated Life and the Society for Apostolic Life in the light of motu proprioVos Estis Lux Mundi and Vademecum. It starts with a brief description of sexual abuse, the mandatory report and then the response of the Ordinary. It shows that sexual abuse is a grave delict, and clerics or religious who have knowledge of information are obliged to report it to the Ordinary while maintaining the seal of confession, and the Ordinary has the grave obligation to take any reports seriously, promptly and decisively, taking into consideration that the procedural norms should be carefully observed. By using the analytical and critical method, the author argues that it is of the highest importance for the Ordinary to establish a system for receiving reports as well as preparing competent personnel in order to handle the case in a thorough and expeditious manner.</em> <br /><br /><strong>Key words:</strong> sexual abuse, minors, vulnerable adults, mandatory report, Ordinary

The Seal of Confession in Polish Criminal Law – Substantive and Procedural Aspects. De lege ferenda Postulates

Tajemnica spowiedzi w polskim prawie karnym – aspekt materialny i proceduralny. Postulaty de lege ferenda Artykuł analizuje pozycję duchownego w kontekście aspektu materialnego i proceduralnego polskiego prawa karnego. Pierwszy z nich odnosi się do odpowiedzialności karnej duchownego za ujawnienie informacji objętych tajemnicą spowiedzi oraz obowiązku zawiadomienia o popełnieniu przestępstwa. Z kolei drugi przedstawia bezwzględny zakaz dowodowy. W uwagach końcowych poczyniono odniesienie do zawartych w poszczególnych aspektach artykułu treści oraz postawiono postulaty de lege ferenda.

Tajemnica duszpasterska. Analiza na przykładzie rozwiązań odnoszących się do Kościoła Ewangelicko-Reformowanego w RP

The study presents and analyses solutions in common law relating to the protection of pastoral secrecy, and more precisely the secrecy of pastoral conversation in the Evangelical Reformed Church in the Republic of Poland, which stems from the Swiss branch of Reformation and which has a tradition of 450 years in Poland. The analysis covers the institution of pastoral secrecy as compared to the institution of the seal of confession which is clearly protected under the provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Code of Civil Procedure, the Code of Administrative Procedure, the Tax Ordinance Act and the Supreme Audit Office Act. Furthermore, the study features a presentation of internal regulations of the Evangelical Reformed Church concerning pastoral secrecy and an analysis of the case law of Polish and German courts applicable to the protection of that type of secrecy.

Learning from the Confessional in the Later Thirteenth Century: Contributions to Human Sexuality, Daily Life, and a Science of Nature

Implementation of the canons of the Fourth Lateran Council dramatically expanded the practice of auricular confession among laypeople. Although the Council's canons also insist upon the seal of confession in order to keep the content of confessions secret, thirteenth-century authorities differ over the boundaries of the seal. As a result, the “secrets” of confession are often revealed in at least general terms in order to provide preachers with entertaining exempla for moral or doctrinal instruction. What is revealed from confession not only provides a window onto medieval private lives, but it also provided confessors with information about human activities—especially sexual practices—that might otherwise be unavailable to them. With such information, learned confessors not only encouraged moral reform but also defended claims of Aristotelian biology on human nature and sexuality.

Legal Mode of the Seal of Confession. Correlation of Secular and Canon Law

The scope of regulation of social relations associated with both secular and canon law are of great interest for the researchers. In particular, they are related to the constitutional presumption of separation of church and state. At the same time, there is the tendency of more convergence of the church with the state in matters concerning property, correlation of church and secular education, etc. Implementing the mode of limited information access, the subjects of which are the clergy, is also a sphere of common interest for the state and the church. The use of the comparative - legal research methods, methods of analysis and synthesis of the situation have made it possible to relate the norms of canon and secular law, and identify elements of their relations. The main purpose of the paper is the comprehensive research of the seal of the confessional, its conceptual apparatus, regulation, judicial practice, forms and types of responsibility for its violation. This paper examines the historical aspects of the formation of the seal of confession, starting with the Spiritual Regulations and up to modern ecclesiastical and secular norms. It indicates the specifics of the Spiritual Regulations, which excluded the absolute inviolability of the seal of the confessional, provided the information is related to the security of higher officials. The paper also deals with the legal framework of the seal of the confessional, being a professional religious mystery as well as the legal mode and a form of the information limited in access. With reference to the Basics of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church the requirements for a priest how to qualify the information told by his parishioner. The article contains some features of the seal of the confession practice abroad, particularly in Germany and the USA. Occasionally, US law provides for the circumstances where the communication of the clergy and their parishioners should remain confidential. There is, however, the requirement compelling the priest to report where protection of children is involved. The jurisprudence support the rules regulating the seal of confession. Three relevant cases have been studied by the authors and they highlight the separation of secular and religious laws.

The Seal of Confession and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America

An extremely important article appeared in the Winter 1995 issue of Ecclesiastical Law Journal entitled ‘An Evidential Privilege for Priest-Penitent Communications’ by Professor D. W. Elliott, outlining the problems of imputing to sacramental confessions the status of privileged communications.