Lawmaker Pressures Church To Break Sacred Seal
A lawmaker in Washington state is urging the Catholic Church to reconsider its long-standing policy on confession in light of a new law that requires clergy to report suspected child abuse. State Senator Noel Frame, a Democrat and childhood abuse survivor, sponsored Senate Bill 5375, which eliminates an exemption that previously allowed priests to withhold reporting if abuse was disclosed during confession. The law, set to take effect in late July, mandates that all clergy report suspected abuse within 48 hours to either law enforcement or the state’s child welfare agency.
Sen. Frame argued that religious traditions should not override public safety, noting that the Catholic Church has revised its Canon law in the past and could do so again to comply with state requirements. She emphasized that the state has a duty to protect children, regardless of religious customs, and maintained that the Church has the authority to adapt its internal policies. The legislation passed Washington’s Democrat-led legislature with narrow margins and was signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat and practicing Catholic.
The Archdiocese of Seattle has strongly opposed the measure. Archbishop Paul Etienne stated that the Church’s sacramental seal of confession is non-negotiable and that any priest who violates it faces excommunication. Church leaders contend that while they support mandatory reporting in general, confession must remain confidential. They also argue that similar laws in other states typically include exemptions for confession, and that this new law may infringe on religious freedom protections under the First Amendment.
The Washington State Catholic Conference echoed these concerns, saying the law places an unconstitutional burden on religious practice. The group highlighted that the Church has improved its abuse prevention policies since 2002 and reiterated its commitment to protecting children, though it maintained that confession must be exempt from state interference.
The U.S. Department of Justice, under the Trump administration, has since opened a civil rights investigation into the law. The DOJ argues that the law unfairly targets clergy by stripping away protections that are still afforded to other professionals, such as attorneys and doctors. The investigation, launched on May 8, questions whether the law violates the First Amendment’s free exercise clause by compelling priests to choose between their religious duties and state law.