How can it be clergy confidentiality, i.e. the Catholic church penitent privilege long established is determined by:
1. Confession to only one person, a priest
2. No told to anyone else
In the WTS procedures, the individual meets with 2 to 3 (sometimes more) elders. Thus the confidentiality starts out with more than one person acting as clergy that hears what the person has to say.
Then, these 3 elders make up a written report and send it to the WTS headquarters, and even more people know about it.
Plus, the WTS says they have no clergy and says a clergy class is contrary to bible principles.
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102010283#h=12:0-12:238
10. The clergy-laity distinction
“All you are brothers,” said Jesus to his followers. (Matthew 23:8) The early Christians, including the Bible writers, had no clergy class. This Biblical pattern is the one that Jehovah’s Witnesses follow.
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102009288#h=1:0-26:60
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2000844#h=4:0-6:239
2 As time went by, things changed. A class developed, known as the clergy, who reserved for themselves the privilege of preaching. (Acts 20:30) The clergy were a small minority of those calling themselves Christians. The great majority became known as the laity. While the laity have been taught that they have certain obligations, including the making of contributions for the upkeep of the clergy, most have become little more than passive listeners in the matter of preaching.
3, 4. (a) How do individuals in Christendom become ministers? (b) Who is considered a minister in Christendom, and why are things different among Jehovah’s Witnesses?
3 The clergy claim to be ministers (from minister, a Latin translation of di·aʹko·nos, “servant”).* For this, they graduate from colleges or seminaries and are ordained. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says: “‘Ordain’ and ‘ordination’ ordinarily refer to special status accorded ministers or priests through officially sanctioned rites, with associated emphasis on authority to proclaim the Word or to administer sacraments, or to do both.” Who ordains the ministers? The New Encyclopædia Britannica says: “In churches that have retained the historic episcopate, the ordaining minister is always a bishop. In Presbyterian churches, ordination is conferred by ministers of the presbytery.”
4 Hence, in the churches of Christendom, the privilege of being a minister has been severely restricted. Yet, this is not the case among Jehovah’s Witnesses. Why not? Because it was not that way in the first-century Christian congregation.
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1981245#h=10:0-11:621
Interestingly, Jehovah’s Witnesses have for years followed the direction of the Founder of Christianity that “all you are brothers,” and have no clergy class among them.
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102011003?q=clergy+class&p=sen
How Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Different?
Many people are amazed when they learn how different Jehovah’s Witnesses are from all the other religions that claim to follow Christ. The following are some of the things that make Jehovah’s Witnesses unique:
STRUCTURE
● They have no clergy class.
In fact, you will not be able to find the phrase "clergy-penitent" in the WTS publications.
