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Excerpt:The state of Washington declared war on the Roman Catholic Church in May when Democrat Gov. Bob Ferguson signed Senate Bill 5375 into law. The bill requires Catholic clergy to break the seal of confession and inform on a penitent who confesses to child abuse.
The law gives priests a choice: Violate the sanctity of the confessional and suffer excommunication, or refuse to report the abuse and go to prison.
The sanctity of the confessional has been recognized in America since 1813, when a New York court refused to compel a priest to reveal what a man accused of stealing jewelry told him during confession.
Senate Bill 5375 “adds clergy to Washington’s list of mandatory reporters for child abuse but explicitly denies them the ‘privileged communication’ exemption granted to other professionals, such as nurses and therapists,” reports The National Catholic Register.
Two other states, New Hampshire and West Virginia, also require priests to report abuse without offering the confidentiality exemption for confession. Washington is different because it still affords attorney-client privilege and similar privileges for other professions.
“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,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said. “The Justice Department will not sit idly by when States mount attacks on the free exercise of religion.”
