Australian priests could be forced to breach seal of the confessional He said priests should avoid taking confessions from colleagues suspected of being paedophiles but that they cannot then report the crime to police. "If that is done outside the confessional (it can be passed on)," he said. (But) the Seal of Confession is inviolable If the priest knows beforehand about such a situation, the priest should refuse to hear the confession. The strict secrecy of confessions is believed to be more than 1000 years old. But a growing number of Australian politicians of all persuasions - including several prominent Catholics - have called for priests to break the seal and report child abuse to police. The Attorney General, Nicola Roxon, said the commission's terms of reference were yet to be decided but the failure by priests to report abuse was "abhorrent." Several states in the US have ruled that the clergy must report cases of child abuse. "I think the whole community finds that idea [that priests would not report abuse] really abhorrent," Ms Roxon told ABC Television. We've been through these debates for mandatory reporting for doctors, teachers, for others that [are] meant to be in close relationships and nevertheless have been required to make reports. So I think we really need to look carefully, there aren't a different set of rules that apply. A senior federal Liberal frontbencher, Christopher Pyne, a practising Catholic, also declared that priests should report child sex abuse heard in the confessional. "If a priest, or anyone else, is aware of the sexual abuse of children that is going on, I think there is an obligation on them to report it to the appropriate authorities," he said. The commission was established following explosive claims late last week by a senior Australian police officer that the Catholic Church covered up evidence of paedophilia by priests. Though the inquiry will look at the role of sports groups, Scouts, child welfare agencies and other non-religious organisations, the Catholic Church has come under intense scrutiny this week following new revelations about child abuse at schools.