# is it a crime to cover up a crime? catholic priests etc
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-crime-to-cover-up-a-crime-catholic-priests-etc/679417
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 22, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-crime-to-cover-up-a-crime-catholic-priests-etc/679417 "2014-01-22T00:40:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-crime-to-cover-up-a-crime-catholic-priests-etc/679417/21 "2014-01-23T12:35:22Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#):
>
> Ah! I didn’t think this was the case. [I don’t think it is in the UK.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest%E2%80%93penitent_privilege_in_England).
Link doesn’t work.
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### Author:  [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2014, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-crime-to-cover-up-a-crime-catholic-priests-etc/679417/22 "2014-01-23T12:39:53Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> Link doesn’t work.
just checked it and it seems fine for me.
[here it is again](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest%E2%80%93penitent_privilege_in_England)
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2014, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-crime-to-cover-up-a-crime-catholic-priests-etc/679417/23 "2014-01-23T13:13:21Z")
Takes me to a Wikipedia “article does not exist” page
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### Author:  [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-crime-to-cover-up-a-crime-catholic-priests-etc/679417/24 "2014-01-23T14:47:19Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> Takes me to a Wikipedia “article does not exist” page
Weird, just tried it and it works fine, sent the link to an office colleague and it opens fine for them.
just wiki “Priest-penitent privilege” that should do it.
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### Author:  [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-crime-to-cover-up-a-crime-catholic-priests-etc/679417/25 "2014-01-23T14:54:02Z")
> [@Nava](#):
>
> Not if they learned about the crimes under the seal of confession.
Is that the reason RICO has never been tried against this crime/series of crimes?
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-crime-to-cover-up-a-crime-catholic-priests-etc/679417/26 "2014-01-23T15:40:25Z")
> [@kopek](#):
>
> Is that the reason RICO has never been tried against this crime/series of crimes?
RICO is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et seq.
The law has both a civil and criminal aspect.
The criminal aspect has never been invoked against the Catholic Church, and the civil aspect, while tried, has never been successful. In general, it’s been a difficult sell to tell a jury that the Catholic Church was engaged in a conspiracy to molest children.
To answer your question: no. In none of the RICO civil cases has the issue of the priest-penitent privilege been at issue.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-crime-to-cover-up-a-crime-catholic-priests-etc/679417/27 "2014-01-23T15:42:01Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#):
>
> In the US, at least.
Yes. I don’t know what laws might apply in other countries.
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### Author:  [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-crime-to-cover-up-a-crime-catholic-priests-etc/679417/28 "2014-01-23T16:12:58Z")
> [@rbroome](#):
>
> I tried but I can’t find where this has been answered. Officials in the catholic church took active measures to hide evidence of and the perpetrators of a crime that they knew about. There are cases that have nothing to do with a confessional.
> How is it that these actions are in themselves not a crime?
> I know they don’t have to report evidence of a crime, they aren’t in a mandatory reporting profession, but when they took deliberate acts to hide evidence of a crime-say transferring the priest to another parish, counseling victims not to go public, etc., how is that not a crime? What am I missing or misunderstanding?
There would have to be a balance between the Free Exercise Clause and a criminal act, this TX case may help explain it in a little more detail.
[http://www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/historical/2008/jun/050916.pdf](http://www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/historical/2008/jun/050916.pdf)
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### Author:  [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-crime-to-cover-up-a-crime-catholic-priests-etc/679417/29 "2014-01-24T00:28:52Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> . . . . To answer your question: no. In none of the RICO civil cases has the issue of the priest-penitent privilege been at issue.
Although there has been much talk in forums like this about what the law does, or should, require a priest to do if another priest (or layman) confesses child sex abuse to him, I’m not sure if there have been many (or any?) actual cases where it has been shown that an abuser is known to have confessed his abuse to an identified priest, who did nothing.
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### Author:  [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-crime-to-cover-up-a-crime-catholic-priests-etc/679417/30 "2014-01-24T02:44:30Z")
This reminded of a [NPR Story](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/404/transcript)in this American life aired a couple of years back. In this story, a Catholic priest, [Patrick Wall](http://patrickjwall.wordpress.com/about/) who goes around “fixing” church after church facing “sexual misconduct” finally gives up and joins the lawyers suing the church.
One of my takeaways from the story was that one needs to know Canon law (Catholic law) to even ask the right questions for the Clergy to respond or furnish information.
I wish there were more good people like him who help the victims of such crimes.
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