# Priest-Penitent Privilege? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 19, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priest-penitent-privilege/794091 "2017-08-19T15:03:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priest-penitent-privilege/794091/81 "2017-08-28T02:51:10Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I think that is a truly horrifying (though not surprising) thing to say. Being willing to face the wrath of society rather than betray the precepts of your faith, even to the price of your life, has a long standing tradition of yes, being admired. Which, it has to be admitted, has led to some serious trouble and continues to do so. Lots of luck extirpating that from most major cultures, though… I suggest you start a foundation as it’s not happening in our lifetime or our grandchildren’s. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’m afraid I see this as an insurmountable moral and ethical difference between us, maybe you are a catholic or lawyer and that is clouding your objectivity on this but if I knew that someone was going to commit a horrendous crime I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do all in my power to prevent it even if it meant risking my own career. Would sacramental confession not be rather about what you already did, and not what you intend or plan or are likely to do? A confessor or an attorney who _knew for a fact_ that the penitent/client deliberately intends to reoffend or plans to do someting even worse \*would \*be in that moral quandary. But ISTM that’s a different case, though. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priest-penitent-privilege/794091/82 "2017-08-28T14:09:02Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I think that is a truly horrifying (though not surprising) thing to say. 😕 I’m not sure how it’s different from anyone having a moral code that calls them to resist some things that society finds acceptable. > [@JRDelirious](#): > > ould sacramental confession not be rather about what you already did, and not what you intend or plan or are likely to do? A confessor or an attorney who knew for a fact that the penitent/client deliberately intends to reoffend or plans to do someting even worse would be in that moral quandary. But ISTM that’s a different case, though. Correct. The penitent is supposed to be entering into the sacrament with sincere repentance and an intention to “go and sin no more”, not talking about what sins they plan to commit. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priest-penitent-privilege/794091/83 "2017-08-28T14:25:20Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > 😕 I’m not sure how it’s different from anyone having a moral code that calls them to resist some things that society finds acceptable. It all depends on the implications of the “some things” in question. Not all resistance to all things are necessarily moral goods. A refusal to pass on information that would save the life of another, and that puts you in no material danger is difficult to see as anything other than…frankly…evil. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priest-penitent-privilege/794091/84 "2017-08-28T17:27:04Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Correct. The penitent is supposed to be entering into the sacrament with sincere repentance and an intention to “go and sin no more”, not talking about what sins they plan to commit. And going to confession to tell the priest that you are going to commit a sin in the future serves no purpose. As far as I am aware, the priest is not required to absolve the non-repentant (which would apply to one who has sinned in the past and plans to continue) and he certainly cannot offer absolution for future sins. So I would be shocked if there were many people who went into a confessional and told the priest of the future crimes they were planning to commit - it would be a waste of time unless the person was doing so simply to torture the priest. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priest-penitent-privilege/794091/85 "2017-08-28T17:52:39Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’m afraid I see this as an insurmountable moral and ethical difference between us, maybe you are a catholic or lawyer and that is clouding your objectivity on this but > if I knew that someone was going to commit a horrendous crime I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do all in my power to prevent it even if it meant risking my own career. If I tell my attorney that I am going to commit a crime, is that privileged? I know that there are exceptions to the privilege. Is this one of them? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priest-penitent-privilege/794091.md?page=4)