What happens when the seal of confession is called a crime? Monica Dumith. Next.

Hello and welcome to Focus the Catholic Cancer's podcast for living understanding and defending

your Catholic faith. I'm side-keleton, your host and confession. It's got some problems.

Well, the problems come from this fact that sometimes priests hear things in confession that

the civil authorities would like to have reported to them. This doesn't just damage confession or

offend slightly against a habit that we Catholics have. It destroys the very idea of the sacramental

life. It does. It goes right to the root of the idea that each person has a right to a sacramental

contact with Jesus Christ our Savior. And guess what? It's worse in Australia than it is here in

the United States. These attacks on confession. So here to defend confession, one of our favorite

Australians. Certainly in our top 10 Australians, Monica Dumith from the Archdiocese of Sydney,

Australia. Monica Dumith, thanks for being with us on Catholic Cancer's Focus. Thank you so

much for having me. Let's be back. All right. So you're all way down there in Australia. And I have

to share with you something that has gone on here in America and it's going to shock you.

You're going to be like, I can't even believe that that happens in America. One of our states,

North Dakota, and following in a tradition of some other states, has tried to make a law or has

threatened to make a law in which Catholic priests would be told you must divulge what you hear in

confession to the state if what is confessed has to do with child abuse. And I know that's probably

very upsetting to you as an Australian. You've probably never heard of anything like that.

Well, we have a saying done here, only in America.

So you're the, you're the, you speak for the Archdiocese of Sydney and you're a great advocate of

life and of Catholic teaching there in Australia. What's the situation been like in Australia as far

as confession? Well, we had a world commission. So big government inquiry into child abuse in all

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