Catholic Church to excommunicate priests for following new US state law
www.newsweek.com
The Justice Department is investigating whether the new law violated the First Amendment.
  • PapaStevesy@lemmy.world
    115·
    7 hours ago

    Exceptions exist, like when practices are outright criminal in themselves

    Aiding and abetting criminals is a crime.

      • PapaStevesy@lemmy.world
        121·
        6 hours ago

        You’re right, having done some light wikipedia-ing, emotional support such that a priest provides would make him an accessory.

        Psychiatrists are legally obligated to report knowledge of certain crimes that would otherwise be protected by confidentiality laws, I don’t see why priests should be any different.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 hour ago

          emotional support such that a priest provides would make him an accessory

          That does not appear to be true, unless the crime is being planned or in progress.

          But even if it somehow did, you’d effectively be demanding a priest self-incriminate by admitting to the contents of a confession.

          • PapaStevesy@lemmy.world
            1·
            31 minutes ago

            It’s called “accessory after the fact”, and they wouldn’t be guilty of it if they report it, that’s the whole point of reporting it.

            An accessory must generally have knowledge that a crime is being committed, will be committed, or has been committed. A person with such knowledge may become an accessory by helping or encouraging the criminal in some way. The assistance to the criminal may be of any type, including emotional or financial assistance as well as physical assistance or concealment.

        • EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com
          3·
          4 hours ago

          Psychiatrists

          Thank you, this was the comparison I was looking for and the standard I would hold for this. I agree with your assessment.

          • PapaStevesy@lemmy.world
            3·
            3 hours ago

            Then they won’t know about the crime to begin with. The very act of listening to the confession and advising spiritual penance provides emotional support.

      • LogicalFallacy@lemm.ee
        11·
        6 hours ago

        «Bless me father for I have sinned: I have a sex slave in my basement. I rape him every day because I cannot control myself."

        You don’t report that and you’re siding the continue commission of a crime.

        Overall you’re right about the first amendment, but it feels like that separating only goes one way, and I’m tired of religion getting the better side of it.

        It’s also so selective. I can’t kill a live chicken to practice Santeria but it’s fine for orthodox jews on Kaporos? We can’t compel a priest to report a murder or testify but they can tell their constituents to vote for the candidate that bans women’s healthcare?

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 hour ago

          Pretty much describing how we ended up with the Satanic Panic

          There’s two sides to this coin. Getting children - particularly young children who don’t understand what they’re being asked - to confess and accuse people of crimes is trivially easy.

      • Woht24@lemmy.world
        43·
        6 hours ago

        It doesn’t, there’s just stupid people out there who find X so abhorrent that can’t possibly have a rational thought regarding it.

        But you’ve been on Lemmy before, so I’m sure you know all about it.

      • PapaStevesy@lemmy.world
        41·
        6 hours ago

        I was wrong, the priest is an accessory to the crime.

        In the United States, a person who learns of the crime and gives some form of assistance before the crime is committed is known as an “accessory before the fact”. A person who learns of the crime after it is committed and helps the criminal to conceal it, or aids the criminal in escaping, or simply fails to report the crime, is known as an “accessory after the fact”. A person who does both is sometimes referred to as an “accessory before and after the fact”, but this usage is less common.