Report of the ELS Working Party on the Seal of Confession – published today

July 3, 2023

The Ecclesiastical Law Society is pleased to announce the publication of the Report of its Working Party on the Seal of Confession. This was established in response to the House of Bishops’ invitation for contributions towards the work of their own Working Party on the Seal of the Confessional.

Working Parties have long been an important part of the Society’s work. In this case, the Working Party has worked to a very tight schedule in order that its deliberations might be sent in time to the House of Bishops’ Working Party. I am most grateful to the members of the Working Party for the speed at which they have worked without sacrificing the quality of the report. The Ecclesiastical Law Society’s Working Party has focussed on questions connected to ecclesiastical law, being our own area of interest and expertise.

I want to express the Society’s thanks in particular to our President, the Rt Revd Christopher Hill, as convenor of the Working Party. Readers of the report will find Bishop Christopher’s long-standing interests both in ecclesiastical law and in ecumenism reflected in its pages.

The views expressed, of course, are those of the Working Party, and not necessarily those of the Society’s Trustees or members, individually or collectively. Nonetheless, I hope very much that the Report will be read widely and will contribute to the ongoing deliberations in the Church.

Click here for the full text of the Working Party’s Report.

Elizabeth Wilson,

Chair, Ecclesiastical Law Society