Question 51: Is a priest always bound to keep secret the sins revealed to him in Confessions? Shouldn't he be required to give up a murderer?

Answer: Yes, a priest is bound by the natural law, the divine law and the law of the Church to keep absolutely secret whatever he hears in Confession. Canon 983 §states, “The sacramental seal in inviolable; therefore, it is a crime for a confessor in any way to betray a penitent by word or in any other manner or for any reason.” As early as the sixth century the Second Synod of Dovin in Armenia decreed: "A priest who reveals the confession of the penitents shall be deposed with anathema." The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) commanded confessors "not to betray the sinner in any manner, whether by word or sign or in any other way," and decreed that priests guilty of this crime "be deposed from their office, and imprisoned in a monastery for life." The New Code of Canon Law (Canon 1388 says: "A confessor who directly violates the seal of confession incurs an automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; if he does so only indirectly, he is to be punished in accord with the seriousness of the offense.”

There are no exceptions to this law. A priest may not break the seal of Confession, either to save his own life or his own good name, to save the life of another, or to further the aims of justice. This is eminently reasonable, for no criminal would dream of going to Confession, if he knew the confessor were bound to reveal his crime to the State authorities. The civil courts recognize the confessor's privilege of silence both here and abroad.