- Kate Scanlon, OSV (Washington)
The Department of Justice stated on May 5 that it has opened an investigation The civil rights movement around the development and passage of legislation in the state of Washington. It requires clergy to report child or child abuse or neglect, with no exceptions for priests.
On May 2, Democratic Governor Bob Ferguson signed into law Senate Bill 5375, sponsored by Democratic Senator Noel Frame of Seattle, making clergy members mandatory reporters. That is, persons required by law to report suspected or known cases of child abuse or neglect. The version of the law enacted did not include an exception to the requirement for sacramental confessions.
Other mandatory reporters in Washington State include school personnel, nurses, social service counselors and psychologists.
Catholic priestsat variance with civil law
Some have argued that the bill addresses an important omission in the state's list of mandatory reporters on the issue. But others have expressed concern that, without exceptions for the (ecclesiastical) clergy prerogative, the law could put Catholic priests at odds with civil law, in order to uphold church law in relation to the secret of confession.
"They are required to violate their faith."
The Justice Department has indicated that it plans to investigate what it called an apparent conflict between Washington state's new law and the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a statement, "SB 5375 requires Catholic priests to violate their deeply held faith in order to obey the law, a violation of the Constitution and an infringement on the free exercise of religion that cannot be sustained in our constitutional system of government."
"Worse, the law appears to single out clergy as not authorized to assert applicable privileges, as compared to other information professionals," Dhillon said. "We take this matter very seriously and look forward to Washington State's cooperation with our investigation."
Every state, district or territory in the U.S. has some form of mandatory reporting law. Most states that specifically include clergy in their mandatory reporting laws grant some privileges to confessing clergy to varying degrees, according to data from the Child Welfare Information Gateway, which is under the Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Requesting an exemption for the sacrament of confession
The Washington State Catholic Conference opposed the particular version of the legislation that passed lawmakers, urging them to amend it "to provide an exception for confidential communications between a member of the clergy and a person of penitent faith."
"Most states that include clergy as mandatory reporters include an exemption for confidential communications, demonstrating that states' interests in protecting children can be achieved without violating the right to free exercise of religion," the Conference said in an April advocacy bulletin.
The Conference, which is the public policy arm of the state's Catholic bishops, previously supported a different version of the legislation to make clergy mandatory reporters with an exemption for the sacrament of confession.
After signing the bill into law on May 2, Governor Ferguson told reporters that he is Catholic and sees the legislation as "pretty straightforward."
"My uncle was a Jesuit priest for many years, I've gone to confession myself, so I'm very familiar with it," he said, according to KXLY-TV. "I felt this was important legislation and protecting children is the first priority."
Archbishop of Seattle: "Catholic clergy cannot violate the confidentiality of confession".
In a May 4 statement, Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle said, "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 surviving victims toward healing and protecting all minors and vulnerable people," he said. "Our policies already require priests to be mandatory reporters, but not if this information is obtained during confession."
Archbishop Etienne expressed concern that priests would find it impossible to comply with the law if such information was revealed through the sacrament of confession.
"Catholic clergy cannot violate the secrecy of confession, or they will be excommunicated from the Church," he said. "All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, safe, confidential and protected by Church law."
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Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
