Catholic clergy confraternity decries Washington law forcing violation of confession seal

A national confraternity of priests and deacons announced May 6 it opposes a recent Washington law that requires priests to break the seal of confession if they learn during the sacrament that a penitent has committed child sex abuse. 

The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy stated in a news release that the law unconstitutionally violates Catholics’ religious freedom.

“Criminal prosecution must rely on constitutional methods to convict rather than violate the freedom of religion,” President of the Confraternity Rev. John Trigilio stated. 

CatholicVote previously reported that Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, signed the law May 2, which “explicitly eliminate[s] legal protections for the sacred seal of confession in abuse-related cases.” The bill also does not target physician-patient or lawyer-client confidentiality, but is only aimed at forcing priests to violate the seal of confession, who would thereby face immediate, automatic excommunication.

According to the confraternity, priests can be imprisoned if they refuse to disclose the content of a confession if it is suspected to have contained a confession of child sex abuse. In its statement, the Confraternity reaffirmed its commitment to “both the protection of children and the integrity of the sacraments” and said that “these commitments are not in conflict.”

“We encourage penitents to voluntarily report crimes to proper authorities, while maintaining the sacred and inviolable seal of confession,” the statement reads. “It is not a question of either/or, as if the state must choose between defending children or respecting religion. It has been and can continue to be both/and. Neither obligation should be in jeopardy.”

CatholicVote reported that Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle released a statement May 4 condemning the law.

“After the apostles were arrested and thrown into jail for preaching the name of Jesus Christ, St. Peter responds to the Sanhedrin: ‘We must obey God rather than men’ (Acts 5:29). This is our stance now in the face of this new law,” he wrote. “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.”

CatholicVote also reported that the U.S. Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into the law, as it “appears on its face to violate the First Amendment.”

“SB 5375 demands that Catholic Priests violate their deeply held faith in order to obey the law, a violation of the Constitution and a breach of the free exercise of religion cannot stand under our Constitutional system of government,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division stated in a news release.

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