CV NEWS FEED // A new Washington state law now compels Catholic priests to report child abuse even if the information is revealed in the sacrament of confession.
The controversial legislation, signed May 2 by Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson, makes Washington the first state to explicitly eliminate legal protections for the sacred seal of confession in abuse-related cases.
Some states have laws requiring clergy to report abuse that also don’t include exemptions for clergy-penitent privilege, but Washington’s Senate Bill 5375 — which passed 64-31 in the House and 28-20 in the Senate — was the first with direct legislative intent to remove protections for sacramental confession in cases of child abuse and neglect.
The law takes effect July 27, according to the Washington State Standard.
Senate Bill 5375 was framed as a child protection measure, requiring all clergy in the state to become mandatory reporters of abuse, as CatholicVote reported in March. However, the law’s reach into confessional privacy has triggered strong objections from Catholic leaders across the state.
Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane issued a statement May 2 reaffirming the Church’s stance to the faithful of his diocese.
“I want to assure you that your shepherds, bishop and priests, are committed to keeping the seal of confession – even to the point of going to jail,” he wrote. “The Sacrament of Penance is sacred and will remain that way in the Diocese of Spokane.”
Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle released a statement May 4, connecting the issue to the first reading during the weekend Masses.
“After the apostles were arrested and thrown into jail for preaching the name of Jesus Christ, St. Peter responds to the Sanhedrin: ‘We must obey God rather than men’ (Acts 5:29). This is our stance now in the face of this new law,” he wrote. “Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession – or they will be excommunicated from the Church. All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by the law of the Church.”
The Washington State Catholic Conference, representing all bishops in the state, had lobbied lawmakers to amend the bill to preserve the clergy-penitent privilege, a principle rooted in both canon law and centuries of Catholic tradition. Breaking the seal of confession is considered a grave offense, punishable by automatic excommunication.
In a 2023 statement, the bishops urged legislators to amend the bill to preserve the clergy-penitent privilege, highlighting that requiring priests to break the confessional seal would constitute a grave violation of religious freedom and could lead to the excommunication of priests who comply with the measure.
“The U.S. Constitution has protected the clergy-penitent privilege for over two hundred years, and removing the clergy-penitent privilege would be an unconstitutional violation of civil liberties,” the statement reads. “It would violate the First Amendment’s Free Exercise clause because it would threaten priests with legal sanctions unless they violate their religious vows.”
The bishops’ statement also noted that the bill singled out the clergy-penitent privilege but kept attorney-client privilege intact.
“The bill attempts to interfere with our Catholic worship and unfairly targets religious liberty, both of which are bad precedents,” the bishops added.
The law’s passage marks the end of a three-year legislative push by State Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, who insisted that no exceptions be made for confessional conversations. For Frame, removing legal protections for clergy-penitent confidentiality was a defining feature of the bill.
“You never put somebody’s conscience above the protection of a child,” she said, according to the Washington State Standard.
While her conviction resonates with the urgency to protect vulnerable children — a mission the Church shares — Catholic leaders caution against viewing the controversy as a zero-sum conflict between conscience and safety.
“For those legislators who question our commitment to the safety of your children,” Bishop Daly stated Friday, “simply speak with any mom who volunteers with a parish youth group, any Catholic school teacher, any dad who coaches a parochial school basketball team or any priest, deacon or seminarian, and you will learn first-hand about our solid protocols and procedures.”
“The Diocese of Spokane maintains an entire department at the Chancery, the Office of Child and Youth protection, staffed by professional laypeople,” the bishop added. “We have a zero-tolerance policy regarding child sexual abuse.”
Archbishop Etienne added, “The Catholic Church agrees with the goal of protecting children and preventing child abuse. The Archdiocese of Seattle remains committed to reporting child sexual abuse, working with victim survivors towards healing, and protecting all minors and vulnerable people. Our policies already require priests to be mandatory reporters, but not if this information is obtained during confession.”
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) further clarifies the Church’s position in “The Seal of Confession and Priest-Penitent Privilege.”
“If priests were required to report crimes heard during confessions, penitents would likely stop confessing them,” the USCCB states. “The opportunity that the sacrament presents for healing — not just of the penitent’s soul, but of the wounds that the penitent’s sin has inflicted on others — would be lost.”
Editor’s note: This article was updated May 5 to include Seattle Archbishop Paul D. Etienne’s statement.