Banning confession as a tool for clipping catholics' wings

This essay by Magdalena Mickiewicz offers a legal analysis of a petition filed in June 2023 by activist Rafał Betlejewski calling for a statutory ban on the confession of children under the age of sixteen. A similar proposal was put forward by Member of the European Parliament Robert Biedroń, who sought to extend the prohibition to the age of eighteen. Both proponents justified their demands by invoking concern for children's mental health; however, the author points out that neither cites any credible psychological research in support of this claim, and that any abuse by clergy can already be prosecuted under existing criminal law — without any need to alter the constitutional foundations of the state. The political context in which these proposals emerged raises a legitimate question as to whether their actual aim is to protect children or rather to curtail the freedom of conscience and religion of Catholics.

The author demonstrates that the proposed ban would conflict with a number of constitutional norms. First, it would violate the constitutional principle of the friendly separation of church and state and their mutual autonomy. Second, the ban would infringe upon the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of conscience and religion (Article 53(1)) and the right of parents to raise their children in accordance with their own convictions (Article 48(1) read in conjunction with Article 53(3)). Equivalent guarantees are provided by Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights.

The author situates the issue within a broader historical context, noting that state interference in Catholic religious practice is well documented: bans on confession were introduced during the French Revolution in 1793 and in Mexico in the 1920s, and in both cases were followed by persecution and atrocities. In her conclusion, the author finds that the petition has no rational justification in terms of public health protection and serves solely to foment hostility toward the Catholic Church.