The Gov. of the state wants priests to report when abuse is revealed during confession, but the Trump Administration says the law is anti-Catholic.
By Catholics for Catholics
The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the State of Washington over an allegedly “anti-Catholic” law that would require priests to report child abuse, even if it was revealed during confession.
In the Catholic faith, confession or the Sacrament of Penance is considered sacred. Anything said during confession is confidential.
The DOJ is at odds with Washington State’s newly passed “mandatory reporter” law, which obliges priests to report child abuse to law enforcement anytime someone reveals it during confession.
According to Fox13 Seattle, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed into law a bill forcing clergy members to report abuse, despite the traditional rules surrounding the confessional seal.
By contrast, the Trump administration says this “violates the free exercise of religion for all Catholics,” and compels priests to violate religious laws to accommodate state law. The DOJ has also intervened in the preexisting suit against the state, Etienne v. Ferguson.
“Laws that explicitly target religious practices such as the Sacrament of Confession in the Catholic Church have no place in our society,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. “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. The Justice Department will not sit idly by when States mount attacks on the free exercise of religion.”
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