Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 August 1900 — CONFESSIONAL INVIOLABILITY. [ARTICLE]

CONFESSIONAL INVIOLABILITY.

French Priest Fined for Revealing Secrets Confided to Him. A case recently decided by the Ninth Chamber of the Civil Court of the Seine would have served Boccaccio’s turn admirably. The matter, however romantic, Is nevertheless a very serious one, especially to certain sections of the community, for It concerns nothing less than the inviolability of the confessional. By the legal tribunal above nailed, the Abbe Breton, vlcalre of the Cathedral of Meaux, was fined 200 f, and costs for having betrayed secrets confided to him in his character of confessor. Fact is a thousand times stranger than fiction, and never, surely, had the grave lawyers of the bar a more curious case brought before them. The story Is briefly this: Pere Elisee, an exFranciscan monk, while still within the pale of orthodoxy, had once a quarter of an hour’s Interview with a young lady, Mille. L., In a convent parlor, her brother and sister being present. It was a case of love at first sight. The pair never met again, but entered Into correspondence, we gather, of an innocent but sentimental nature. After a time Mllle. L. grew uneasy, and her confessor, the said Abbe, being absent, she poured out tier heart to him in writing, of course under the pledge of secrecy. She was bidden to hand over to him the whole of the tender missives, which were straightway handed over to his superiors. Then followed a veritable earthquake. ' The case for the defense was based upon the fact that the young lady’s confidence had been given In writing, and to the Abbe In bls capacity of friend rather than of priest. view the court would not entertain for a moment, holding that the role of confessor Is not confined to the confessional box. Laws, moreover, alike ecclesiastical and civil, were adduced In point; according to the “Constitution” of Pope Benedict XIV. H 745), any priest violating the secrecy of the confessional -is suspended from his functions. The civil law on the subject of secrets confided professionally, whether to priest or laymen, Is still more categorical. By no consideration of Interest, public or private, is the violation of such secrecy held excusable.—London News. About thirty cities In Wisconsin are supplied with water from artesian wells. 7