Washington bishops challenge state law that threatens confessional seal
May 30, 2025
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CWN Editor's Note: The Catholic bishops of Washington have filed suit challenging the constitutionality of a new state law that could require priests to violate the confessional seal.
The law requiring priests to report information about abuse, even if obtained in a sacramental confession, would force priests to choose “between temporal criminal punishment and eternal damnation, interfering with the internal governance and discipline of the Catholic Church,” the lawsuit states.
The bishops’ suit goes on to observe that other groups are exempted from the mandatory reporting, so that the law appears to target Catholic priests. The suit also notes that the Catholic dioceses have strict policies requiring reports of abuse, which “go beyond what Washington law requires.”
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