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Western Australian politician the Hon Charles Smith MLC has this week described the Labor Party’s Children and Community Services Amendment Bill 2019 as an attack on Catholic’s freedom to practice their faith.
Speaking exclusively to The Record, Mr Smith, who is the parliamentary representative of The Western Australia Party in the WA State Parliament, explained that the bill is expected to be passed in the Upper House of State Parliament in the coming week.
“Unfortunately, it would have passed without much of a fight, without any mainstream media attention and without the Catholic laity’s knowledge,” Mr Smith explained.
“It will, however, significantly affect the ability of Catholics within Western Australia to practice their religion,” he emphasised.
As a former child protection police officer, Mr Smith says he naturally commends any efforts by the State Government to improve the safety and welfare of children.
“However I do not support what appears to be a covert attack on the Catholic Church,” he highlighted.
Mr Smith went on to explain that contained within this Bill is the requirement for ‘Ministers of Religion’ to be compelled by law to violate the Seal of Confession and report to authorities any occasions when historical or current allegations of child sexual abuse is suspected.
The Minister for Child Protection, Simone McGurk MLA with the full support of her Labor Party members in the state parliament, Mr Smith emphasised, have decided to criminalise the absolute confidentiality of the Sacrament of Confession, with full knowledge and understanding of what it [the Sacrament] means.
Church teaching and Canon Law dictates that the consequences for a priest who breaks the Seal of Confession is excommunication.
An excommunicated priest no longer has any ecclesiastical or spiritual authority to administer any of the Catholic Sacraments.
“I am concerned that enemies of the Church may take advantage of this new law to entrap or frame Catholic priests,” Mr Smith highlighted.
“If you consider this implausible, what have we just witnessed in the case of Cardinal Pell?”
Mr Smith wants the Catholic people of WA to understand that under cross examination in a court of law, a Catholic priest who does not answer questions about the content of discussions within the Sacrament of Confession will put him in contempt of court with a possible gaol sentence.
“Should a Catholic priest choose to disclose content discussed within the Sacrament of Confession, he will be excommunicated and will no longer be a priest. Either way, the laity have lost one of their Shepherds.”
Mr Smith noted that according to recent statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 21 per cent of Western Australians identify themselves as Catholic.
“While all these Catholics may not be attending Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation, these same people will still request the services of a priest during different times of their life – baptism of their children, during times of crises including seeking the Last Rites, not to mention weddings and funerals.”
“What I want to emphasise is that disappointingly the major parties in our State will not defend your freedom to practice your 2,000 year old faith,” Mr Smith explained.
“This Bill will criminalise the absolute confidentiality of the Sacrament of Confession.
“The potential consequences of such a legal weapon are very grave.”
“This proposed Bill, employing the simplistic message that children’s safety prioritises institutional customs, provides a new avenue for enemies of the Catholic Church to attack Christianity by taking priests out of action.
Mr Smith explained to The Record that he has introduced an amendment to Parliament to make sure the Sacrament of Confession remains intact.
“It is for the sake of defending the freedom of the 530,000 strong Catholic laity in Western Australia to practice their faith that I will not support the Child Services Bill unless special exemptions are made for the Sacrament of Confession,” Mr Smith concluded.