[trollbridge]

Someone can literally confess to a priest he is stealing from the diocese, and the priest will keep it under seal. In the confessional, though, the priest can give spiritual advice on how to make penance. This could mean “go turn yourself in to the civil authorities”, “pay back what you stole”, or “say 3 Hail Marys each morning for a week”.

Another way to view this is that the confessional is basically anonymous. Governments hate anonymity.

[AStonesThrow]

No, a priest must never coerce a penitent to betray themselves. This would be tantamount to the priest betraying the penitent, don't you see?

Confessors are generally advised to assign satisfaction [penance] that consist of prayers or other strictly spiritual works, so that they are easily completed and remain entirely in the internal forum.

A priest who tried to withhold absolution from a penitent, on the condition of the penitent turning themselves in or confessing to secular authority, that priest would be sanctioned, up to the penalties for breaking the seal of confessional.

[firesteelrain]

I totally understand the anonymous position. I just have a hard time reconciling not reporting a child abuser.

[harimau777]

I think that the Catholic Church would agree that it is difficult to reconcile and it would be worrying if you didn't feel that way.