The Trump administration is taking action against Washington State’s law requiring Catholic priests to break the confessional seal to report information about suspected child abuse or neglect.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is suing Washington Governor Bob Ferguson (D) and other state and local officials over a law singling out Catholic clergy in its reporting requirements for child abuse investigations.
“Laws that explicitly target religious practices such as the Sacrament of Confession in the Catholic Church have no place in our society,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
“Senate Bill 5375 unconstitutionally forces Catholic priests in Washington to choose between their obligations to the Catholic Church and their penitents or face criminal consequences, while treating the priest-penitent privilege differently than other well-settled privileges. The Justice Department will not sit idly by when States mount attacks on the free exercise of religion.”
The law, SB 5375, forces Catholic priests to violate the seal of confession, a vow of confidentiality that prevents priests from disclosing anything they hear in confession. Clergy who break the seal are subject to immediate excommunication under the laws of the Catholic Church.
Washington State bishops have already filed a federal lawsuit against the law, arguing it is an unconstitutional violation of religious liberty under the First Amendment and 14th Amendment. The Justice Department’s legal action against Washington consists of a complaint in intervention in the Bishops’s lawsuit.
“SB 5375 directly interferes with the fundamental right of Catholic priests to freely exercise their religion by forcing them to violate the sanctity and confidentiality of confessional communications. No other mandatory reporter is required to forego his or her fundamental rights under the Constitution in this manner,” the Justice Department said in the court papers.
The complaint is pending before a federal court in the western district of Washington. It follows an investigation from the Civil Rights Division into Washington’s law launched last month shortly after Ferguson signed it.
Confession is the Catholic process for those in a state of serious sin to reconcile themselves with God by telling their sins to a priest. In some cases, confession can involve revealing deeply personal details about one’s life.
SB 5375 grants confidentiality protections to other professions including doctors and nurses, exempting them from reporting sensitive information. It is set to go into effect at the end of July.
“Washington is targeting the Roman Catholic Church in a brazen act of religious discrimination,” the bishops said in the lawsuit. “Without any basis in law or fact, Washington now puts Roman Catholic priests to an impossible choice: violate 2,000 years of Church teaching and incur automatic excommunication or refuse to comply with Washington law and be subject to imprisonment, fine, and civil liability.”
“The object of this law is clear: subject Roman Catholic clergy to dictates of the state.”
The bishops noted that each Catholic diocese in Washington has reporting requirements that go further than the legislation. They reiterated their support for protecting children from suspected abusers while defending the confidentiality of confession.
The legislation passed after years of debate during which Washington Catholics unsuccessfully attempted to resolve the confession dispute.