Spokane bishop urges voters to oppose bill that forces priests to break seal of confession

CNA Staff, Feb 5, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).

Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly is urging Catholic voters in Washington state to oppose a proposed law that would order priests to violate the seal of confession in cases where child abuse is revealed during the sacrament. 

The bill, proposed in both houses of the state Legislature, would amend state law to require clergy to report instances of child abuse with no exemption for instances where the abuse is learned during the sacrament of penance. 

A 2023 version of the proposal offered an exemption for abuse allegations learned “solely as a result of a confession.” The latest bill does not contain such a carve-out.

State Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, told the Washington State Standard that the proposal was “a hard subject for many of my colleagues, especially those with deep religious views.”

“I also know far too many children have been victims of abuse — the Legislature has a duty to act,” she argued.

Canon law stipulates that any priest who deliberately violates the seal of confession is automatically excommunicated. This week, Daly stressed his opposition to the measure, assuring the faithful that clergy “are committed to keeping the seal of confession — even to the point of going to jail.” 

“The sacrament of penance is sacred and will remain that way in the Diocese of Spokane,” the bishop said.

Daly noted that the Diocese of Spokane devotes considerable resources to child safety and holds “a zero-tolerance policy regarding child sexual abuse.”

The bishop said the diocese would follow the legislative process around the bill. He called for prayers “that our legislators will create sound law” that respects freedom of religion in the U.S. 

“I strongly encourage the Catholic faithful of eastern Washington to call our state representatives and respectfully ask them to vote against this measure,” Daly wrote. 

This is not the only recent effort to order priests to violate the seal of confession in an effort to combat child abuse. 

A bill proposed in Montana earlier this year proposed to “eliminate clergy exemption in mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect.” 

Clergy “may not refuse to make a report as required … on the grounds of a physician-patient or similar privilege,” the Montana bill said. That measure stalled at committee in January. 

In May 2023 Delaware legislators proposed a bill requiring priests to break the seal of confession in cases of reporting sexual abuse. A similar law was proposed in Vermont around the same time. Both bills failed to advance in their respective legislatures.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262023/spokane-bishop-urges-voters-to-oppose-bill-that-forces-priests-to-break-seal-of-confession