To Confess Or Not To Confess? These States Leaning Toward Mandatory Priest Divulgence Of Information

Vermont and Washington legislatures would make Catholic clergy mandatory reporters of sexual abuse, removing the privilege between the clergy and the person confessing, which currently allows this type of behavior to remain secret.

The idea of ‘if it is said in confession, it stays in confession’ allows anyone who needs to confess their sins the ability to do so without worrying about law enforcement being contacted. The legislation would remove this safety net.

Catholic priests would be directly affected since priests are prohibited from divulging anything heard during confession, no matter how illegal it may be.

March 05, 2023

In response to the potential legislation, Bishop Thomas Daly of the Diocese of Spokane, Washington, told the Washington Examiner during an interview, “Priests and bishops will go to jail rather than break the seal of confession.” “I’m confident that the priests in the Diocese of Spokane and my brother bishops would do that, so sacred is that bond.”

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Daly explained the importance of the seal of confession and that it is non-negotiable. “Priests are already mandated reporters in all matters but the sacrament of penance.” “Why has this become an issue?”

First amendment lawyer Eric Kniffin said about the Washington bill, “By explicitly overruling the clergy penitent privilege, while leaving the attorney-client privilege untouched, Washington State would go where no state has gone before, setting the state up for a civil rights lawsuit. I am confident it would lose.” “While I applaud the legislature’s desire to protect children and strengthen the State’s mandatory reporter law, this is not the best way to advance the State’s interests in protecting children and bringing sexual predators to justice.”

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Kniffin went on to say, “My sense is there’s a disproportional thing that says, ‘There’s been abuse in the Catholic Church, we want to protect kids, and if we close this privilege, they would be safer,’ but they’re not thinking about what that would do to Catholics.”

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A similar bill passed through the Washington Senate unanimously on Tuesday, including clergy-penitent privilege protection.

Senator Noel Frame, who sponsored the bill, said, “This bill is already a major step forward for protecting children, and my priority is to pass it into law this year in the strongest form we can.”