Ban ‘Confession’ system in Churches ! : Petition filed by Christian women in SC

Priests misuse Confessions to sexually abuse women !

Many cases of sexual abuse of women, children and nuns by priests have come to light in foreign countries from time to time; these exist in India too. Hence, it is no surprise that Christian women have filed such a petition.

Bollywood films have been portraying Hindu priests in a bad light while glorifying the Church priests. Will the film producers show guts to change this picture ?

New Delhi – Five Christian women filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the mandatory traditional ‘Confession’ system in Kerala’s ‘Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church’. The petition says that this traditional practice is against the freedom of expression and fundamental rights where the priests demand physical relations in exchange for confessions. The Court has, however, allowed amending the petition with evidence and resubmit it. The Kerala and Central Government have been made parties in the case. The National Commission for Women has earlier suggested banning the ‘Confession’ system after growing cases of sexual abuse of women in churches.

Supreme Court questioned Adv. Mukul Rohatgi, ‘Why didn’t you file this petition in the Kerala High Court ?’, to which he replied, “Many questions have been raised regarding the HC’s Sabarimala judgement. The SC had then redirected this matter to the constitutional Bench of 9 judges. Hence, we have filed the petition in SC”.

The petition filed by women demands selecting priests for the ‘Confession’. Christian women should not be forced to confess because cases of blackmailing by the priests based on confessions made by women have come to light.

The SC has also sought the opinion of Attorney General of India KC Venugopal. In his response, KC Venugopal said that this matter has come up based on the clashes between Jacobite and Orthodox groups of Malankara Church. The clashes now have reached the SC. Adv. Mukul Rohatgi said, “In such cases, verification should be done whether the confession is a mandatory religious process along with the constitutional rights. Whether the follower’s freedom of expression can be abused based on the religious authority of the priests ? Some priests misuse the information given by the women during confession”. The SC said, ‘Such incidents can vary from person to person”.

Kerala HC had declined a petition to ban the ‘Confession’ system in 2018

While declining the petition to ban the ‘Confession’ system in 2018, Kerala HC had said that when an individual embraces any religion, it means he/she embraces every rule and law of that religion. ‘Confession’ system is a part of Christianity and if the petitioners are unhappy with it, they are free to give up the religion.