Archbishop's response to mandatory child sex abuse reporting labelled 'pig-headed'

Perth’s Catholic archbishop, Timothy Costelloe, says forcing religious leaders in Western Australia to reveal knowledge of child sex abuse risks “interfering with the free practice of the Catholic faith” and will be ineffective – a stance that advocates say is “ignorant and pig-headed”.

The state government plans to expand mandatory reporting laws to include religious leaders such as priests, ministers, imams, rabbis, pastors and Salvation Army officers.

The laws already apply to doctors, teachers, nurses, midwives, police and school boarding supervisors.

Costelloe said plans to remove legal protections around the confidentiality of religious confessions would cause “great concern and distress” to many people of faith.

While everyone supports their goal to protect children from sexual predators, many will question whether the proposed laws will achieve that, he said on Thursday.

Related: Catholic church opposes expansion of child sexual abuse reporting in WA

“The absolute freedom and confidence to reveal the depths of our shame and sorrow to God in order to experience his mercy in a truly human way through the ministry of the priest requires that there be no possibility of self-incrimination before the law.

“To threaten priests with prosecution if they remain faithful to this foundational teaching of the church is to run the risk of interfering with the free practice of the Catholic faith.”

Costelloe said it seemed very unlikely that child abusers – who were notoriously unrepentant – would come to confession.

Those convicted under WA’s mandatory reporting laws face a maximum fine of $6000 and are likely to be banned from working with children.

Chrissie Foster, whose two daughters were abused during primary school by a Catholic priest, described the archbishop’s comments as “ignorant and pig-headed”.

One of her daughters died of an overdose after turning to drugs following the abuse, while the other began binge drinking to black-out the abuse and was left permanently disabled after being hit by a car.

Foster referred to the case of Catholic priest Michael McArdle, who after pleading guilty in a Queensland court to sexually abusing children made an affidavit stating that he had confessed to the rapes and assaults 1,500 times to 30 priests over a 25-year period.

“They did nothing to stop him,” Foster said.

“If they were required by law to report the crimes to police from the first confession, then 25 years of further assaults affecting generations of children could have been prevented.

“The seal of confession is an example of one of the ridiculous rules the church has been allowed to set for itself.

“That this archbishop is insisting on this after all the bad press exposing the church’s inaction contributing to the rape of children shows how ignorant and pigheaded he is.”