The clergy–penitent privilege, clergy privilege, confessional privilege, priest–penitent privilege, pastor–penitent privilege, clergyman–communicant privilege, or ecclesiastical privilege, is a rule of evidence that forbids judicial inquiry into certain communications (spoken or otherwise) between clergy and members of their congregation. This rule recognises certain communication as privileged and not subject to otherwise obligatory disclosure, similar to attorney–client privilege between lawyers and clients. In many jurisdictions certain communications between a member of the clergy of some or all religious faiths (e.g., a minister, priest, rabbi, imam) and a person consulting them in confidence are privileged in law. In particular, Catholics, Lutherans and Anglicans, among adherents of other Christian denominations, confess their sins to priests, who are unconditionally forbidden by Church canon law from making any disclosure, a position supported by the law of many countries, although in conflict with civil (secular) law in some jurisdictions. It is a distinct concept from that of confidentiality (see non-disclosure agreement).

The protection of the clergy–penitent privilege relationships rests on one of the more basic privileges as strong or stronger than the similar clauses to confidentiality between lawyer and client.

In Australia, most states now implement various versions of the Commonwealth Uniform Evidence Law 1995, which provides for clergy privilege. States which have not implemented a version of the Uniform Evidence Act are covered by common law derived from the English common law. Since there is very little case law regarding priest-penitent privilege, it is not absolutely clear if such privilege applies: the standard understanding is that there is no such privilege, but there is some disagreement.

Several states have modified the effect of the statutory Evidence Law to restrict clergy privilege when applied to child abuse cases.

In the state of Queensland, a law was passed on August 9, 2020, that forces members of the clergy to report known or suspected cases of abuse to the police, meaning they are no longer allowed to use the sanctity of the confessional as a defence or excuse in child sex abuse matters.

Two Canadian provinces recognize the privilege in the communications between individuals and their religious leaders in their statutes (Newfoundland and Labrador under its Evidence Act and Quebec under its Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms). Otherwise, religious communication is covered by common law.

Canadian law descends from British common law, and as such the status of priest–penitent privilege is not well defined in national jurisprudence. R. v. Gruenke from 1991 is the leading Supreme Court of Canada case regarding this privilege. Religious communications are not presumptively (prima facie) privileged.

The court establishes that a test, proposed by John Henry Wigmore, might be employed to determine whether a specific communication is privileged or not. The "Wigmore Criteria" are seen as a general framework, not a "carved in stone" approach. The "Wigmore Criteria" are generally used to determine if privilege covers communications that do not fall under the classic privileged communications such as solicitor–client privilege or spousal privilege.