For centuries, Catholics have approached the Sacrament of Confession seeking mercy and reconciliation with God. What a penitent says in the sacrament is held in absolute confidence. This protection — known as the seal of confession — is among the oldest and most solemn obligations in the Catholic Church, grounded in the Church’s teaching that, in the sacrament, penitents are confidentially confessing to and receiving forgiveness from God. Priests are strictly forbidden from revealing what they hear in confession, and any priest who breaks that seal is automatically excommunicated. As the canon law of the Catholic Church makes clear, “it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.”
But now, although in service of the noble aim of protecting children from abuse, the State of Washington has passed a law that threatens Catholic priests with jail time for refusing to violate that core tenet of their faith.
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