Bob Ferguson, the Democrat governor of Washington state, signed a bill in May that would have compelled Catholic priests to break the seal of confession or face up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Catholic bishops in the Evergreen State fought back — and came out victorious on Friday with the reinforcement of the Trump Justice Department.
Background
Senate Bill 5375, as ratified by the self-identifying Catholic governor and scores of other Democrats in the legislature, required any person operating in an official supervisory capacity with a nonprofit or a for-profit organization who has “reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered abuse or neglect” to notify law enforcement or the Department of Children, Youth, and Families.
‘Priests should never be forced to make the impossible choice of betraying their sacred vows or going to jail.’
The law mandated, however, that no one except for members of the clergy had to report abuse when that information was obtained solely as a result of a privileged communication.
“SB 5375 modifies existing law solely to make members of the clergy mandatory reporters with respect to child abuse or neglect,” U.S. District Judge David Estudillo noted in his July ruling. “However, other groups of adults who may learn about child abuse are not required to report. Parents and caregivers, for example, are not mandatory reporters.”
Estudillo noted further that a parallel piece of legislation that went into effect on July 27 also exempted university attorneys from divulging child abuse information if it has something to do with their clients.
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Washington State Gov. Bob Ferguson (D). Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images
“A law is not neutral if the government ‘proceeds in a manner intolerant of religious beliefs or restricts practices because of their religious nature,'” Estudillo noted. “Here, clergy were explicitly singled out.”
Not only was the law discriminatory, it would have both invited the government into the confessional and put priests at risk of automatic excommunication.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church maintains that “every priest who hears confessions is bound under very severe penalties to keep absolute secrecy regarding the sins that his penitents have confessed to him” and “can make no use of knowledge that confession gives him about penitents’ lives.”
The Code of Canon Law — cited in the May 18 complaint filed by Archbishop Paul Etienne of the Archdiocese of Seattle, Bishop Joseph Tyson of the Diocese of Yakima, and Bishop Thomas Daly of the Diocese of Spokane — similarly underscores the inviolability of the sacramental seal, noting further that a “confessor who directly violates the sacramental seal incurs a latae sententiae — automatic — excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See.”
A month after the bishops filed suit, the Trump DOJ intervened in the case, stressing that SB 5375 “deprives Catholic priests of their fundamental right to freely exercise their religious beliefs, as guaranteed under the First Amendment.”
Victory
On Friday, the state of Washington settled the case, agreeing to make permanent a Biden judge’s July injunction blocking the law.
The federal court handling the case further recognized that the Democrat law had infringed upon the Catholic bishops’ free exercise of religion in violation of the First Amendment and may also have infringed upon their rights under the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause and the Church Autonomy Doctrine.
Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which served as co-counsel in the case, said in statement obtained by Blaze News, “Washington was wise to walk away from this draconian law and allow Catholic clergy to continue ministering to the faithful. This is 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,” added Rienzi.
“Preventing abuse and upholding the sacred seal of confession are not mutually exclusive — we can and must do both,” stated 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.”
The WSCC added that “priests have been imprisoned, tortured, and even killed for upholding the seal of confession. Penitents today need the same assurance that their participation in a holy sacrament will remain free from government interference.”
Blaze News has reached out to Ferguson’s office for comment.
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