New state law in Washington will attack confessional seal
May 05, 2025
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CWN Editor's Note: Stage legislators in Washington have passed, and Governor Bob Ferguson has signed into law, a bill that requires priests to report information about child abuse, even if it is given in a sacramental confession.
The bill—which takes effect in July if it survives legal challenges—requires clergy to report suspected abuse to law enforcement, in a direct challenge to the integrity of the confessional seal.
Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle quickly responded with an unambiguous public statement:
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 archbishop remarked that the legislation “is specifically targeting religious conduct by inserting the government into the Catholic tradition, namely, the highly defined ritual of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.” His statement pointed toward the certainty of an appeal, challenging the new law as a violation of religious freedom.
Governor Ferguson—who is a Catholic—swept aside such concerns, saying: “Protecting our kids, first, is the most important thing.”
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