The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast

Today, Fr. Mike tells us about the story of the patron saint of confessors, St. John Nepomucene, who gave up his life because he refused to break something called the "seal of confession", which is a sacred duty of a priest to never reveal what is said in the confessional. God himself established the priesthood as the mediators of reconciliation in the Gospel (John 2-:21-22). The Church takes this sacred responsibility so seriously, that any priest who breaks the seal of confession is automatically excommunicated.