The Church of England finds new ways to increase independence in addressing the problem of sexual abuse. Actually, the Church of England is going to establish an independent ombudsman to deal with complaints over those cases.

As the Telegraph reports, the Archbishop of Canterbury is thought to be considering proposals to set up  for the church the first national commission on abuse. The Daily Mail has also claimed that there will be a  change in how the church deals with allegations that could include requiring clergy members to break the sacrosanct seal of confession so they can report major crimes revealed in the confessional.

In Catholic teaching, the Sacrament of Penance is the method of the Church by which individual men and women confess sins committed after baptism and have them absolved by God through the administration of a Priest. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is one of the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, in which the faithful obtain absolution for the sins committed against God and neighbor and are reconciled with the community of the Church. The Sacrament of Penance is considered the normal way to be absolved from mortal sin, by which one would otherwise possibly condemn oneself to Hell.

Guidance released from the diocese of Canterbury called “Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults From Harm” says clergy must tell penitents that if their confession "raises a concern about the well-being or safeguarding" of others, the priest will be "duty bound" to tell the "relevant agencies". 

From “Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults From Harm”:

“Any priest hearing a confession, regularly or otherwise, must say prior to hearing that confession the following statement of confidentiality and safeguarding:

“If you touch on any matter in your confession that raises a concern about the wellbeing or safeguarding of another person or yourself, I am duty bound to pass that information on to the relevant agencies, which means that I am unable to keep such information confidential.”

Campaigner and clergy abuse victim Anne Lawrence said: “There have been so many cover-ups, and the Church is not taking the concerns of survivors seriously that there is something fundamentally wrong in the system. The Church is a powerful institution with moral authority but it has used that authority to cover-up serious crimes. There are so many unanswered questions.”

Julian Hills, Diocesan Secretary, insisted that the arrangement did not "abolish the seal of the confessional" but was "intended to advise the penitent not to divulge in confession something which would legally compromise the position of the priest". This means that Christians have been advised not to confess sex abuse secrets to Church of England clergy because they will tell the police.

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