(ZENIT News / Seattle, 06.05.2025).- A centuries-old sacrament and the modern state have collided in a legal and cultural showdown that is drawing national attention. At the center of the storm: a newly signed law in Washington State that requires Catholic priests to report suspected child abuse, even when learned during the sacrament of confession—a mandate the Church sees as crossing a sacred line.
The law, signed on May 2, 2025, by Governor Bob Ferguson, is scheduled to take effect on July 27, 2025. It compels clergy to break the seal of confession under threat of criminal penalty: up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine. What sets this legislation apart isn’t the obligation to report abuse—already a norm in many diocesan policies—but the explicit inclusion of confessional disclosures, long considered untouchable under both religious and legal tradition.
In response, the Archdiocese of Seattle and the Dioceses of Spokane and Yakima have filed suit in federal court, arguing that the law violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of free exercise of religion, and disrupts the delicate balance between Church and State.
Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle minced no words: “This law demands the impossible of priests. If they comply, they are automatically excommunicated by the Church. If they refuse, they face prison. This is not a legal dilemma—it’s a spiritual no-man’s land.”
Indeed, the Catholic Church holds the seal of confession as absolute. According to canon law, any priest who deliberately breaks it incurs automatic excommunication reserved to the Holy See. The sacrament is treated as sacred ground—where penitent souls are unburdened, and confessions are entrusted solely to God.
Yet to lawmakers like Ferguson, who is himself a Catholic, this long-held tradition must yield to the state’s duty to protect children. “I’ve gone to confession,” he said, noting a personal connection to the Church through a Jesuit uncle. “But the safety of children cannot be optional.”
The new law, passed by a 64–31 vote in the House and a narrow 28–21 margin in the Senate, is an effort to prevent such failings in the future.
Still, critics warn that Washington’s law represents not just legislative zeal, but overreach. It treats religious communication with more suspicion than secular professions. Doctors, psychologists, and even spouses retain certain legal privileges to protect confidential conversations. Priests, under this law, do not.
“This is not about shielding abusers,” said Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane. “It’s about safeguarding a sacrament. Our priests are prepared to go to jail rather than betray it.”
The Diocese of Spokane emphasizes its own strict protocols for protecting children, including a lay-led Office for the Protection of Children and Youth, and a zero-tolerance policy for abuse. What the diocese refuses to do, however, is compromise the integrity of the confessional.
Legal scholars are watching closely. Mark Rienzi, president of Becket, a law firm specializing in religious liberty cases, called the law “a brazen intrusion into the heart of religious practice. Imagine the government dictating how, when, and what a believer can say in prayer. That’s what’s happening here.”
Adding to the controversy is the Department of Justice’s involvement. On May 5, the DOJ announced it was launching a federal investigation into whether the new law violates the First Amendment. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon characterized the measure as “a legislative attack on the Catholic Church and the sacrament of penance.”
This is not the first time such legislation has been attempted in Washington. Previous efforts failed amid constitutional concerns. Most states that list clergy as mandated reporters specifically exempt confessions. Only a handful have attempted to pierce the seal, and courts have generally sided with religious freedom. A 2016 ruling by the Louisiana Supreme Court reaffirmed that priests could not be compelled to disclose what they hear in the confessional.
What makes the current case so combustible is not just the legal tension, but the spiritual symbolism. To Catholics, confession is not merely a ritual. It is a divine encounter. The possibility of its being surveilled or interrupted by the state isn’t just an administrative concern—it’s an existential threat to a sacramental worldview.
“This law sets a dangerous precedent,” Archbishop Etienne warned. “If the government can reach into the confessional today, what sacred space will it claim tomorrow?”
For many, that question is no longer hypothetical. With the law set to take effect in less than two months, the Church, the courts, and the conscience of the nation are being summoned into a debate about where human law ends—and divine law begins.
Thank you for reading our content. If you would like to receive ZENIT’s daily e-mail news, you can subscribe for free through this link.
