The Church of England’s lead safeguarding bishop, Rt Rev Robert Springett, has said mandatory reporting must take precedence over adhering to the seal of the confessional.

Addressing a meeting of General Synod in York, Bishop Robert said continued use of the seal is “seen by many as fatally undermining” the Church’s credibility in its commitment to safeguarding.

The seal of confessional is a strict doctrine requiring priests to keep absolute secrecy about any sins shared during the sacrament of penance. In recent years, there have been calls for priests to be able to break the Seal if abuse against minors is disclosed.

Updating the Synod on national safeguarding developments, Bishop Robert said it was “firmly” in the Church’s “court” to decide what to do about the seal, because it isn’t a “regulated activity” as defined by the Police and Crime Act. Having listened to survivors he said he recognised that for many adhering to the Seal undermines the Church’s commitment to safeguarding.

The CofE recently accepted fully most of the recommendations of the Makin Review into the abuse by John Smyth. However, Bishop Robert said the implementation of the recommendations had to be carefully monitored. With regard to the debate around the seal, he said he was concerned the work had “lost momentum”:

“Makin shone a light on those who covered up abuse and like it or not the seal is seen by many people in that same light. This has led me to conclude that our commitment to mandatory reporting must take precedent. However hard it is, and it is, we cannot simply leave this in the ‘too difficult to manage tray’”.

The House of Bishops is set to reflect on the issue in the Autumn.

Earlier this year, an attempt to compel priests in France to report accounts of child abuse heard during confession failed in the French Parliament.