Still Like That "Reconciliation Room"??

Whilst it's true as Dad29 says, that the most often discussed aspect of 'the box' was privacy, it is forgotten that the reason for its introduction, centuries ago, was exactly to prevent this sort of thing from happening. Bring back 'the box'!

(Full disclosure: St Wenceslaus, Wilber, does not have a 'reconciliation room'. We have a standard, old fashioned confessional, Priest in the middle and two 'boxes' for penitents, one on either side.)

From Dad29

That "reconciliation room" thing may not be such a smart idea after all.

The pastor of Queen of Apostles Catholic Church in Pewaukee is accused of inappropriately touching a 13-year-old girl during confession. The accused is Father Charles "Chuck" Hanel -- and he faces a felony charge of sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age. According to the criminal complaint, the alleged crime in this case happened on Dec. 17, 2017. The alleged victim, who was 13 years old at the time, told authorities that while attending Reconciliation at Queen of Apostles, Father Hanel had inappropriate contact with her in a confessional....[really, a 'reconciliation room.'

The priest denies it.  This would be his first offense in 35 years.  There will be a trial, of course.

That's not the point, however. 

In the good old days, there was a wall between the priest and the penitent; a 2' X 2" hole was cut into the wall, with a wire mesh covered with cloth inserted into the hole.  The priest could not touch a penitent, and wouldn't really know who the individual was under normal circumstances.

While the privacy aspect was the one most discussed, it was also "assault-proof"--and in this case, that would have been very good indeed, for the priest AND the 13-year-old girl, eh?

Well.  Now we have Enlightenment!!  A reconciliation room!!!  What COULD go wrong?