Queensland, Australia, has passed a law requiring Catholic priests to testify about what they learn in confessions about sexual abuse of minors by priests.

The aim is laudable, but I doubt this law will actually produce much evidence.

This reminds me of the US court ruling that seized the recordings made by an American project that had interviewed former IRA terrorists and promised to keep the recordings secret for a long time. Until after their death, I think. Without that promise, they would not have made recordings.

The effect of this ruling was to set aside the premise and obtain the evidence from that one set of terrorists, but also to bar any similar future projects about other violent disputes. Instead of learning what happened, at some future time, we won't learn it ever. In the long term, I think we are worse off.