The Evangelical Lutheran Church
The Church Act contains a provision on the seal of the confessional. A matter confessed to a pastor in a private confession or other pastoral care may not be expressed, nor may the identity of the person who has made the confession to the parson be disclosed. The provision applies only to a situation in which
- a private confession or pastoral care takes place and
- the confession is received by a parson or a parish lecturer.
A parson and a parish lecturer must also submit a child welfare notification and a notification to the police when the matter has not come to their attention within the scope of a private confession or pastoral care.
(Church Act (652/2023, chapter 7, section 9)
The Orthodox Church
A priest of the Orthodox Church may not, as a witness or otherwise, express what they have heard in a confession of sins or otherwise in pastoral care. The identity of the person who has confessed to the priest must also not be disclosed.
If in the context of a confession of sins or other pastoral care, a person expresses plans to commit an offence that under general law must be reported, the priest must urge the person to inform the authorities or the person in danger. If the person does not agree to this, the priest must inform the authorities to the extent this is possible without revealing, directly or indirectly, the identity of the person concerned.
(Act on the Orthodox Church (985/2006, section 110)
(Criminal Code, chapter 15, section 10)
The notification duties laid down in section 25 of the Child Welfare Act do not apply to information subject to the seal of the confessional of the Orthodox Church. The notification duty applies to other information. In addition, persons other than a priest (“persons with an employment relationship” and “persons in a position of trust”) have the duty to notify child welfare and the police.
Other religious communities
Persons with an employment relationship with other religious communities and persons in positions of trust in these communities have a duty to notify child welfare and the police. Other religious communities mean communities referred to in Chapter 2 of the Act on the Freedom of Religion.
Religious communities other than the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Orthodox Church may also have their own regulations on confession or other pastoral care.