Priest excommunicated for breaking confession seal

A Catholic priest has been excommunicated for failing to keep secret sins confessed to him by a member of his flock, the Archdiocese of Manila revealed yesterday.

Reverend Father Alejandre Galias of the diocese of Sorsogon was excommunicated on Sept. 21 by Bishop Arturo Bastes and permanently barred from administering any sacrament and from holding positions within the church following a formal inquiry into a complaint accusing the priest of violating the seal of confession.

Bastes said he declared Galias’ automatic excommunication after he received a complaint from a faithful who confessed to the priest.     

The bishop ordered an investigation and found that Galias really violated the rule.

“You cannot become a priest without knowing that law. What he did was a serious breach of confidence. They know this is a serious law of the Church that must be followed. As his bishop, I should implement this law and also warn other priests,” Bastes said in an interview over Church-run Radyo Veritas.

Under church law, a priest who hears confession is bound to keep absolute secrecy regarding the sins that his penitents have confessed to him.

Lingayen Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz explained excommunication means a person is separated from the life of the Church.

“You are not a member anymore of the flow of prayer because in the Holy Mass, you’ll see you pray for everybody. When we pray the liturgy we pray for everybody. Now if one is excommunicated that means he is not made a participant of that global prayer that goes from morning until night,” Cruz told reporters in an interview.

“It is the bishop himself who will say I excommunicate you because of this or that misbehavior. But the law says also if this or that misbehavior is done you are automatically excommunicated and the bishop will just declare the excommunication,” he explained.

Only an order from Pope Benedict XVI can reinstate the clergyman to his priestly duties, noted Cruz, a local canon law expert.

“It requires the Holy Father through the penitentiary to lift an excommunication. It’s quite serious,” Cruz said.

Galias is the third Filipino priest excommunicated by the Catholic Church. Church officials said there were other faithful who were also excommunicated and most of them were involved in abortion.    – Edu Punay, AP