Montana legislators table bill that would have forced priests to violate seal of Confession
Caroline MolloyThe Montana Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 29 tabled an anti-Catholic bill that would have required priests to break the seal of Confession.
The Committee voted 7-2 to table Senate Bill 139, effectively halting the bill’s continuation through the legislature. Montana state Rep. Lukas Schubert, a Republican, noted that one of the bill’s co-sponsors, Democrat Sen. Cora Neumann, joined six Republican senators in striking it down.
CatholicVote previously reported that the bill focused on removing clergy’s exemption from mandatory reporting of abuse if such information was disclosed during the Sacrament of Confession.
Schubert, a Catholic, was vocally opposed to the bill, telling CatholicVote in January that he viewed it as “an anti-Catholic, anti-Christian bill.”
Catholic priests are obliged to protect the seal of Confession, which prohibits them from ever revealing information disclosed during a Confession. If the seal is violated, the priest is excommunicated, Schubert noted.
“So with that,” Schubert said, “we have to acknowledge that the laws of God are infinitely above the laws of man.”
