If you were a priest and someone confessed to you a murder they committed, would you tell on them?

No. Clerical confidentiality and it wouldn't be ethical. Tell on someone who was about to commit a murder, different story. To save a life would be the controlling ethical concern, if the murder has already committed the ethics revolve around deterrence/revenge and are not strong enough.

Still protected by Washington State Supreme Court who set ethical standards for lawyers in this bar.

There is a law here in Australia that if your spouse does something illegal and you know about it, you do not have to report it and you cannot be summonsed to testify against your spouse due to the "sanctity of marriage" or something like that. I am sure it is the same case with a priest - priests must be privy to confidential information even if it includes a crime.

But on the other hand, an anonymous tip off to the authorities may be in order.

I agree - tough one.. I'd say if the priest didn't report it and it was found out the priest knew.. the priest could probably successfully argue his case/his position in the court.

As a priest, you are not legally obligated to reveal what you know about a past murder. All you can do is to counsel the person to surrender. The law recognizes a "privileged communication" right between a person and the person's physician, clergy, lawyer, and spouse. A statement made under privileged circumstances is ABSOLUTELY private. The person breaking the privilege can actually be censured by his/her hierarchy. Doctors and lawyers can have their licenses revoked as a major ethics violation. Clergy can be punished up to the level of being "defrocked." Spousal privacy is different, but there are legal remedies that would allow you to forbid spousal testimony. CERTAINLY, the state cannot compel spousal testimony.

EVEN as a lawyer, doctor, or priest, if you are told in privilege (confidence) that a person is PLANNING to kill someone, I believe the confidentiality rule does not apply.

Ethically, the difference is that a life is already lost if the murder has occurred, but you can save a life if the murder is still only in the planning stages.

A priest has no duty to reveal that a murder has been confessed and it is actually part of their vows not to. Now, a priest is allowed to reveal whether some one is likely to endanger or harm another person. Even the law recognizes a confidentiality exception for priests so that a priest need not reveal the identity of a murderer who confessed to them.

On one hand, a priest (as any law abiding citizen) should report crimes to authorities when there is even suspicision of such.

On the other hand, Catholic priests have an oath to secrecy with confessions (look up "The Law of the Seal of Confession"). That law- old as it is - is inviolable. If a priest breaks it, he faces the possibility of being disrobed. Even federal law recognizes the implications of this and waives demands that priests witness against a confessor.

So no, if you were a law abiding priest who really upholds Catholic tradition, you would not tell on a criminal confessor.

Non-Catholics might beg to disagree, but there it is.

They are not allowed to tell. It is a vow they took when they became a priest.

Let me add: A confession isn't made to a priest, it's made THROUGH a priest; he is just the mediator to God, sort of. There are acceptions to the law about confidentiality for priests for this purpose.

A priest is bound by his vows to not reveal what his told to him in confession.

Plus, the law recognizes that and will not force ministers (not just Catholic priests) to testify about what was revealed to them in confession.

Theres a small difference, if you confess to DOING a murder, he can't say anything. Now if you go to him and you say something about going to kill someone, he should open his mouth.

If he does open his mouth for confessing about a past deed, it is useless in court. But if he has opened his mouth, others will know, but will have to find another way of proof.

It would be a hard decision, but ultimately, I will alert the authority. True as a priest, you took a vow to keep the confidentiality, but murder is a serious situation, and I think the deceased deserve some justice.

A priest has an obligation not to tell anyone what is confessed during reconciliation. If he did, he would no longer be allowed to be a priest. If I made that commitment, I wouldn't break it.