The U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit against Washington state over a new law that requires Catholic priests to break the confidentiality seal of confession. A department release characterized the law as "anti-Catholic."
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the legislation into law in early May. The bill requires Catholic priests to divulge information about neglect or abuse of a child that was shared during a confession.
Archbishop Paul Etienne in Seattle wrote in a statement posted by the Washington State Catholic Conference that the position of the church is to stand in defiance of the law. "We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). This is our stance now in the face of this new law."
The government lawsuit against the state claims the law violates America’s Free Exercise of Religion protections under the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
The DOJ said in its release that the law forces an untenable situation by requiring "Catholic priests to violate their vows to uphold the confidentiality seal that accompanies the sacred rite of Confession, subjecting them to immediate excommunication from the Catholic Church."
Archbishop Etienne said, "Confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential, and protected by the law of the church." He said the issue is not disclosing information about abuse or neglect but strictly on how it's obtained. "Our policies already require priests to be mandatory reporters, but not if this information is obtained during confession."
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a department statement, "Laws that explicitly target religious practices such as the Sacrament of Confession in the Catholic Church have no place in our society."
Catholic Bishops in Washington filed suit against the law in late May. The federal suit spells out that the church is committed to child protection but also defends the critical importance of the confessional seal.
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