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Washington has abandoned its effort to force Catholic priests and other religious leaders to divulge information on child abuse and neglect they learn of in confession.
With a pair of legal filings, the state agreed not to enforce the controversial provision of a new state law that adds clergy to a list of professions that must report to law enforcement when they have “reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered abuse or neglect.”
Stipulations filed in federal court on Friday will largely preserve the law, while casting aside the controversial component related to confessions. Catholic bishops and Orthodox churches sued over that element, arguing it was unconstitutional.
The agreements the state reached in those cases reflect the preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge that has prevented the state and counties from enforcing the confessional reporting provision since the law took effect July 27.
Lawmakers approved the law during this year’s legislative session, and Gov. Bob Ferguson signed it in May.
The Trump administration had also weighed in on the case, siding with the churches.
In the case brought by three Catholic bishops, U.S. District Court Chief Judge David G. Estudillo ruled that requiring disclosures on information learned in confession infringed on their First Amendment right to practice religion and would force priests to violate their sacred vows or face punishment by the state.
State attorneys concluded that, given the judge’s reasoning, settling the legal fights now was the best possible outcome.
“It keeps crucial portions of Washington’s mandatory reporting law in place, while also preserving the Legislature’s authority to address issues with the law identified by the court,” Attorney General Nick Brown said in a statement.
Catholic leaders and their lawyers celebrated the legal victory.
“Preventing abuse and upholding the sacred seal of confession are not mutually exclusive — we can and must do both,” said Jean Hill, executive director of the Washington State Catholic Conference.
“That’s why the Church supported the law’s goal from the beginning and only asked for a narrow exemption to protect the sacrament,” she said. “We’re grateful the state ultimately recognized it can prevent abuse without forcing priests to violate their sacred vows.”
Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of Becket, one of several firms involved in the case, called the state’s decision to settle “a victory for religious freedom and for common sense. Priests should never be forced to make the impossible choice of betraying their sacred vows or going to jail.”
But a leader of a group that works to assist individuals abused by clergy members criticized the outcome.
“There are some fights worth fighting for. This is one of them,” said Mary Dispenza of the Catholic Accountability Project. “Priests are not above the law. This secrecy or ‘priest privilege’ fails children and keeps perpetrators safe — able to molest and assault children again and again. The federal judge who blocked [Senate Bill] 5375 is putting the law above the life and protection of children.”
Senate Bill 5375 added clergy to the state’s list of individuals legally required to report suspected child abuse to law enforcement or the Department of Children, Youth and Families.
A “member of the clergy” is defined in the legislation to cover any regularly licensed, accredited, or ordained minister, priest, rabbi, imam, elder or similarly positioned religious or spiritual leader.
The three bishops filed their lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Tacoma in May, naming Ferguson, Brown and the prosecuting attorney in each of Washington’s 39 counties as defendants. The Orthodox Church in America, along with other churches and individual priests, filed a similar case in federal court in Spokane in June.
Both cases and stipulations are now in front of Judge Estudillo in Tacoma. If he signs both orders, they will go into effect and the cases will end.
The stipulations do not require any action by the Legislature, said Mike Faulk, deputy communications director for Attorney General Brown. It does not foreclose lawmakers addressing pieces of the law the court found problematic if they want, he said.
Ferguson, a Catholic, has said requiring disclosures about information learned in confession did not give him pause and he was disappointed his church was suing “to protect individuals who abuse kids.” State attorneys consulted the governor before deciding to file stipulations in each case.
Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, wrote the new law, which represents years of effort to add clergy to the state’s list of mandatory reporters.
“My goal all along with this bill has just been to protect children, and I hope that closing the book on this lawsuit allows for that to happen,” she said in an email.
“Children need to know that when they go to a trusted adult in their life to ask for help, like a member of the clergy, they get help,” Frame said. “That’s how we break the cycle of abuse and do better by our next generation.”
Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com.
It’s a sad day when religion takes precedent over our children.
This is bad news! No one, especially clergy, should ever cover up child abuse.
This is shameful!
Absolutely abhorrent! Agree with Janet Passey and Karen!
As a Catholic I’m disappointed by this backing down by the state. Once again, the catholic church shows how powerful it is. The church has been protecting pedophiles for years, as long as I can remember and for way longer than that. It is shameful.
As a Catholic, I am grateful for the decision. The abuse scandal is a huge scar on the Church. Forcing priests to break the Seal of Confession will not fix the past. Allowing people who sin access to the mercy of Jesus in the Sacrament of Confession must remain confidential. If you are Catholic, please experience the healing mercy of God through this sacrament. Go to Confession. It doesn’t matter how long it as been, Jesus is waiting for you. +JMJ+
Beautiful response Rebecca, thank you. There are protections in place, to protect against abuse in the church. I can only pray that protections are put in place, in all spaces, for our precious children in schools and through out our community.
I no longer consider myself a Catholic but when I was, I was active with my late wife in one of their charitable organizations. To do this we had to take a course in spotting and reporting any sort of abuse we might encounter in our work and I was fine with this the first time around. But after they made us take this same course every year for over four years I started wondering why I had to have all this sexual abuse education when I hadn’t been the one engaging in sexual abuse or supporting an environment that encouraged clergy and people in authority to partake in such abuse? It finally donned on me that this was just checking off another box by the power structure to make it look like it was doing something about it. Part of why I decided to leave the church.
Clinton, I’m sorry to hear you no longer practice the Catholic faith. Btw, I also had to take the safe environment courses through the Archdiocese of Seattle. I also did similar training through the Boys Scouts program along with submitting to a background check and I found them helpful. These are the times we live in. With safeguards in place like two deep leadership, the opportunity for abuse is greatly reduces. It also protects adults as well when engagement with youth is in full view of others.
Does anyone know if volunteers in the public school system undergo similar training – attending how to spot abuse courses? When I was volunteering at a public school, I had to submit to a background check but nothing more.
The Catholic Clergy and Protestant Clergy in general, the Boy and Girl Scouts and the Public Schools are hot beds of child sexual abuse because the abusers and groomers go where the children are and they are very clever manipulators of adults as well as children in order to get what they want. I fail to see how teaching the same course over and over to the people least likely to be abusers (people who just want to help but have no authority) is very helpful to really stop this child abuse that has gone on for decades and is nothing new under the sun. If making you jump thru the hoop of taking some course makes you feel like the people in power are really trying to solve the problem there’s probably no harm done, but you might want to look twice at why they are having you take the course over and over and you might want some answers as to what was actually done to punish any powerful people who have committed the acts you are trying to help stop. I think you will find rampant cover ups, transfers, and very little punishment, if any, in most of these organizations. All Authority hates bad publicity and will happily conspire to stop it most of the time.
I certainly believe in grace and mercy for repentant wrong doers. But do I trust a child abuser with my children, probably not.