Catholic clergy cite confession rules to oppose Washington abuse reporting bill

• A Washington state bill would require members of the clergy to report child abuse or neglect. The bill does not include an exemption for information received during confession.
• Catholic members of the clergy in Washington oppose the bill, as breaking the seal of confession can get a priest removed from his role and the church entirely.
• A previous version of the bill with an exemption for confession passed the Senate in 2023 but failed to become law. This year’s version advanced out of its first Senate committee this week.

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A bill in Washington state may create a conflict between state law and centuries-old religious law. Lawmakers are proposing a bill that would require members of the clergy to report child abuse or neglect.

However, the bill extends to information that someone may divulge during confession.

In recent years, states have expanded policies requiring the reporting of child abuse. Some went as far as requiring all adults who hear allegations of abuse to report them to authorities.

But in the Catholic Church, any priest who violates the seal of confession faces both defrocking –– the loss of their priesthood –– and excommunication or removal from the church.

The Catholic Church has been grappling with the decades-long fallout of scandals implicating church officials in child sex abuse across the U.S. and around the world.

The Catholic Church has been working to address the issue. However, clergy in Washington feel the current proposal is a bridge too far.

Clergy “…are committed to keeping the seal of confession — even to the point of going to jail,” Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly said. “The sacrament of penance is sacred and will remain that way in the Diocese of Spokane.”

Democratic State Sen. Noel Frame, a leading sponsor of the bill and vocal survivor of child sex abuse, offered an exemption for confession in the version of the bill she put forward in 2023. The Senate passed that bill; however, it ultimately died after the House passed a version without the exemption.

This version of the bill does not have the exemption. Frame has pushed the Washington Legislature to find a version they can pass.

“I know this is a hard subject for many of my colleagues, especially those with deep religious views,” Frame said in a statement. “I respect that; I also know far too many children have been victims of abuse — the Legislature has a duty to act.”

Frame’s bill received a hearing last week and advanced out of the state Senate’s Human Services Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 5.

The Washington State Catholic Conference opposes the bill. They suggested focusing on a different bill that trains current mandatory reporters on how to recognize patterns of abuse.

That bill received its first hearing Wednesday but has not advanced any further.