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This is merely a hypothetical, and I realize how unlikely this is, but if a person who committed murder confessed it to a Catholic priest, is the priest then allowed to go report the crime to the police? Is there a code that the priest won't confess sins to others?
It seems to me that the greater sin would be to not report the crime and let justice fly out the door, not to break some code.
No, he cannot. That would be a violation of the seal of confession, which is that a priest cannot reveal anything that would betray the penitent.
Can. 983 §1. The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner [e.g., by signs] and for any reason.
Can. 984 §1. A confessor is prohibited completely from using knowledge acquired from confession to the detriment of the penitent even when any danger of revelation is excluded.
§2. A person who has been placed in authority cannot use in any manner for external governance the knowledge about sins which he has received in confession at any time.
taken from this answer to the question "Does the Seal of Confession include saying whether or not a person confessed to them?"
Supplement to the answer of Geremia based on comment of Dan W:
For past crimes, it's not just Catholic priests (and probably other religious professionals in general). In general, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, mental health nurses and mental health professionals in general and doctors and health professionals in general and also lawyers/attorneys can't.
Usually, the exception for those secular professionals is to do with present or future crimes, e.g. the client is a fugitive or plans to commit some crime in the future.
This then is the relevant difference for Catholic priests (and I guess religious professionals in general) : In fact, Catholic priests have the same obligations for past crimes.
Based on the prior cited: Can. 983 §1, Can. 984 §1. & §2., it is correct that the seal of confession cannot be broken on any circumstance including confession of murder.
However, there is an additional stipulation concerning murder, Can. 977:
Can. 977 The absolution of an accomplice in a sin against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue [Thou Shall Not Kill] is invalid except in danger of death.
This essentially means that absolution cannot be given for murder, so while the confession seal is upheld no absolution is given meaning practically speaking the sin is unforgiven. With the exception of a deathbed confession.
So the more proper answer would be that yes the seal of confession cannot be broken under any circumstance, however the confession of murder is not considered licit and will not be absolved either.
I apologize I do have the proper citations for this in canon law for case precedent in doing this, but based on my own observation & hearing the accounts of multiple confessors. How this usually works out in practice is the confessor will inform the person that for their penance they must provide their confession to the lawful authority and face secular justice, and the serving of their time in prison or whatever the lawful punishment is is considered an act of their penance. Therefore satisfying the need for a just punishment while also absolving the penitent.
Unrelated to the question, but for those curious there are additional categories of sin where the priest is not permitted to grant absolution without dispensation from his bishop. One related example I'm aware of is abortion, where while normally this would be covered under the 6th, Francis has granted dispensation for priests to absolve this one. I'm uncertain if their is a canon law citation to provide, but just a recent event I'm aware of, happy to clarify further if needed.
