Ex-Catholic here. The issue in the discussion so far seems to be the priority of the confession ritual vs childrens' rights. In that regard, Catholicism has a doctrinal commitment to parent worship, both in the "honour thy father and mother" commandment and the "main story" being the blameless son's sacrifice at the behest of the infallible father so he can carry out his plans. Indeed, priests are called "father" as well. Childrens' rights are simply not prioritized. As a concrete example, my "devout Catholic" grandfather abused his "devout Catholic" daughter who in turn abused me. I think in some cases they didn't even see this behaviour as wrong, but if they confessed it, they would have gotten absolution of their soul from their confidant "father" because hurting your kid isn't considered a mortal sin. It's long past due to abolish these superstition-based carvouts on childrens' rights, whether it be this case or other issues such as infant circumcision. If someone is feeling guilty about hitting their kids, they don't need comfort, forgiveness, and understanding -- they need a terrestrial authority to correct their behaviour and protect the kids.