Signed into law on May 2nd, Washington’s new law requires “members of the clergy” to report information about child abuse to law enforcement. This new law requires Catholic priests to break the seal of confession and report to law enforcement. With this new law being signed, it has now received major pushback from members of the Catholic Church and the federal government, bringing into question the possibility of a violation of the First Amendment’s freedom of religion.
Signed in by Gov. Bob Ferguson, the Office of Public Affairs has described it as “reporting information received in a confessional setting relating to child abuse or neglect to law enforcement or other state authorities, with no exception for the absolute seal of confidentiality that applies to Catholic priests.” Washington State Sen. Noel Frame worked for three years to bring the bill to Gov. Ferguson. Sen. Frame has said, “You never put somebody’s conscience above the protection of a child.” The bill was created after the report of a cover-up of a child abuse case from a Jehovah’s Witness congregation in Spokane. Since its conception, the bill has seen consistent support, including support from previous victims of abuse by Catholics and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Gov. Ferguson, a Catholic himself, supported the inclusion of the bill, which did not exempt confessions from being reported. He stated, “I’m very familiar with it. I’ve been to confession myself. I felt this was important legislation for protecting kids.”
Signed May 2nd and going into effect June 27th, this bill has seen extreme backlash from the Catholic Church, and the U.S. Department of Justice is opening a civil rights investigation into this new Washington bill. The Department of Justice has described the bill as “anti-Catholic” when they announced their plans to investigate the bill’s history and possible First Amendment infringement. Assistant Attorney General Harmett K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department has stated, “SB 5375 demands that Catholic priests violate their deeply held faith to obey the law, a violation of the Constitution and a breach of the free exercise of religion… Worse, the law appears to single out clergy as not entitled to assert applicable privileges, as compared to other reporting professionals. We take this matter very seriously and look forward to Washington State’s cooperation with our investigation.” Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle has responded, saying that clergy who violate the seal of confession 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.” Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane has also spoken out, reaffirming the church’s faith to not break the seal of confession.
A part of the church’s response has been to discuss the actions they have already taken. Priests are mandated to report child abuse heard outside of confessions. The Diocese of Spokane has a dedicated department for child safety, known as the Office of Child and Youth Protection. The USSCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) has claimed that “If priests were required to report crimes heard during confessions, penitents would likely stop confessing them.” The Catholic Church seeks to promote healing, and it finds that confession provides people within the community the opportunity to grow and heal.
Gov. Ferguson has continued to stand by this bill, and the effectiveness of the church’s ability to find child abuse within the church continues to be a big problem. Last year, when Ferguson was still the state’s attorney general, he launched an investigation into the church after reports of charitable funds going towards covering up a child abuse scandal.
Led by Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane, and Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle, a lawsuit has been filed against Gov. Ferguson, Attorney General Nick Brown, and the prosecuting attorneys in each of Washington’s counties to overturn this new bill. They argue this bill violates the First Amendment right of religious freedom and acts as religious discrimination, forcing Catholic priests to choose between violating church teaching and being excommunicated from the church or being imprisoned, fined, or civilly liable by Washington state. One of the groups representing the bishops is the First Liberty Institute. This religious legal organization has achieved legal success in the past, including representing a case before the Supreme Court. The executive general counsel, Hiram Sasser, has called the new bill “a brazen act of religious discrimination.” The DOJ joined this lawsuit, declaring this bill to be a threat to religious freedom. In July, only weeks before the bill would be passed into law, federal judge Davi Judge Estudillo blocked it, ruling that it would infringe on First Amendment rights.
After the lawsuit was filed on May 29th, Gov. Ferguson issued a statement later that day, saying, “I’m disappointed my church is filing a federal lawsuit to protect individuals who abuse kids.”
The future of this bill is uncertain, and with it being at a standstill for months, further development will be slow.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/us/church-confession-law-child-abuse.html
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-first-amendment-investigation-was
https://aleteia.org/2025/05/05/washington-law-requires-priests-to-break-seal-of-confession
https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/washington-state-attacks-the-seal-of-confession
