(b) _Per accidens_, or by reason of a mistake committed by him (e.g., absolution mistakenly refused or invalidly given, erroneous notion about the gravity of a sin imparted or not corrected, restitution imposed where not due or not imposed where due), a confessor is held to see that the mistake is corrected and that the penitent or a third party is spared or rescued from the harm which will follow from the mistake. The obligation is one of justice in those cases where there is a violation of implicit agreement (e.g., absolution unreasonably withheld), or damage positively and culpably caused (e.g., erroneous advice about the gravity of a sin or about the duty of restitution); it is one of charity in other cases where the confessor can without undue inconvenience assist the spiritual or temporal need of the penitent or of another (e.g., penitent’s misunderstanding about his duty of restitution which the confessor failed to clear up). The duty of repairing mistakes is grave when there is grave damage (e.g., invalid absolution of mortal sins) and grave guilt was contracted by the mistake (e.g., if the invalidity was voluntary) or will be contracted by refusal to prevent the consequences of the mistake (e.g., if the invalidity has been discovered, and one knows that the penitent will die unabsolved, if one does not rectify the error). The duty is light if there is light damage (e.g., invalid absolution of free matter, or of necessary matter confessed by a person who will go to the Sacraments soon again), or light culpability (e.g., failure to question about the species or number of sins, or to impose a penance, when the failure is due to distraction or forgetfulness).
2765. Manner of Repairing Defects Made in Hearing a Confession.—(a) The Reparation to be Made.—If the penitent has been deprived of absolution, he should be absolved; if he has been wrongly instructed, he should be set right; if temporal loss has been caused, temporal restitution should be made.
(b) The Person to Whom Restitution Should Be Made.—The injured person should be compensated. Hence if restitution was mistakenly imposed on the penitent and he cannot recover his property, the confessor should reimburse him; if the penitent was mistakenly excused from restitution, payment is due the third party who loses by the advice.
(e) The Manner of Making Reparation.—If possible, the reparation should be made in the penitent’s next confession, as this is less troublesome to all concerned. But if the confessor has wrongly instructed the penitent in an important matter, he is bound more probably (after obtaining the penitent’s permission to speak about confession matter) to retract, even outside of the confessional, if this can be done without scandal or other serious evil, which would be rare.
2766. Excuses from the Duty of Repairing Mistakes.—(a) Physical Impossibility.—If the confessor does not know who the penitent is or cannot find him, there is nothing to do but to repent over the mistake and to pray for the penitent that God may provide for him.
(b) Moral Impossibility.—Grave inconvenience excuses, unless the confessor has been seriously at fault against justice (e.g., by omitting absolution, by giving incorrect instruction in an important matter, by neglecting to warn against an occasion of serious sin, by wrongly advising on restitution of a large sum), or the salvation of a soul is at stake, as when an unabsolved penitent is dying (see 1797 sqq.)
2767. The Obligation of the Seal of Confession.—(a) Its Subject.—Primarily the duty of the seal obliges the confessor, secondarily all others to whom the matter of sacramental confession in any way becomes known, such as bystanders, interpreters, or those who have spied into a confession. The penitent on his part is bound to keep as a natural secret the words of the confessor which the latter would rightly wish to be kept confidential (e.g., it would not be fair to excuse oneself in making necessary corrections, by saying that one was acting under advice of one’s confessor, especially since the confessor cannot defend himself).
(b) Its Object.—Primarily, the seal extends to all sins confessed, whether they be light or grave, private or public; and a confessor may not confirm from his knowledge as confessor what he also knows from other knowledge. Secondarily, it extends to all that is declared for a fuller explanation of the sins, such as circumstances, purpose, occasion, cooperation, and to all those things whose revelation would endanger the seal or make the Sacrament odious, such as the denial of absolution, the penance given, the insincerity, impatience or scrupulosity shown in confessing, the fact that a confession was long or a general review. Other matters not generally known and which the penitent reasonably wishes to be confidential (e.g., the fact that he made his confession, his natural defects of illegitimacy or deafness) should be kept as natural secrets. But there is no duty of sacramental or natural silence about matters which the confessor knows from other sources and which he is free to mention (e.g., facts learned from a non-sacramental confession made to the priest and others with a view to its use, or from the confessor’s own perception of a theft committed by the penitent in the act of confession).
2768. Sins against the Seal of Confession.—(a) Direct violation happens if a confessor declares, either to the penitent himself or to another, matter protected by the seal, and with such clearness that both the penitent and his sin can be recognized. This occurs even though no names are mentioned, or the penitent is unknown to the listeners, or is no longer living, or when the listeners do not perceive that sacramental knowledge is being used. The sin is grave, and, since the injury to religion and the public is always serious, it admits of no lightness of matter. The penalty is excommunication most specially reserved to the Pope (Canon 2369).
(b) Indirect violation happens if a confessor so speaks or acts as to create a danger of direct violation (e.g., if he speaks so loud in the confessional that those outside can hear, or if he is suspiciously silent when the penitent is being commended, or if he warns the parents of a penitent to be specially watchful of him, or if he refuses to hear a confession because he knows from a previous confession that the person is very scrupulous, or if he shows less confidence or regard for the penitent). The sin admits of lightness of matter, since the danger of direct violation may be remote; but if there is grave culpability, suspension or even severer penalties may be inflicted (Canons 2369, 2368).