A federal judge has ruled that Catholic priests in Washington state cannot be required to report child abuse or neglect they learn about through confession after the Trump administration intervened in their favor.
Three Roman Catholic bishops had sued the state government over a new law — SB 5375 — that would extend mandatory abuse reporting rules to the sacrament of confession despite the Church’s absolute ban on revealing such secrets.
Last month the U.S. Department of Justice backed them up, arguing the law “deprives Catholic priests of their fundamental right to freely exercise their religious beliefs, as guaranteed under the First Amendment”.
On Friday U.S. district judge David G. Estudillo ruled the priests were “likely to succeed” in their lawsuit and issued a preliminary injunction blocking that part of the law.
“There is no question that SB 5375 burdens plaintiffs’ free exercise of religion,” Estudillo wrote. “In situations where Plaintiffs hear confessions related to child abuse or neglect, SB 5375 places them in the position of either complying with the requirements of their faith or violating the law…
“As [the plaintiff] stated, any priest who directly violates the sacramental seal incurs automatic excommunication, and thereby risks eternal damnation…
“Ultimately, Washington’s failure to demonstrate why it has an interest of the highest order in denying an exemption to clergy while making such exemptions available to other professionals who work with underserved children is likely fatal.”
It comes after the Trump administration cut funding for investigating child sexual abuse, and refused to release promised documents about the crimes and associates of Jeffrey Epstein, as it seeks to define transgender rights and healthcare for under-18s as a form of “child abuse”.
SB 5375 was signed into law in May by Washington’s Democratic governor Bob Ferguson, and will take effect on July 27. Ferguson told reporters he had no hesitation about signing it. Ferguson is Catholic and has been to confession.
As state attorney general, Ferguson had accused the Catholic Church of refusing to cooperate with an investigation into whether it unlawfully used charitable funds to cover up sexual abuse by priests.
The new law adds religious leaders and priests to a list of professions that can be criminally charged if they do not report suspected abuse or neglect, alongside teachers, doctors, nurses, childcare providers, and many others.
Previously, priests were only required to report if the suspected perpetrator was someone they had authority over, and were exempted from doing so if they learned about it through a “privileged communication” such as confession.
Washington’s Catholic leadership objected, saying the Church’s prohibition on breaking the “seal of confession” is absolute and threatens to excommunicate any Catholic priests who follow the law.
“All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential, and protected by the law of the Church,” said Archbishop Paul D. Etienne, citing a Bible passage in which St Peter says: “We must obey God rather than men.”
The priests’ lawsuit argued that SB 5375 infringed upon their first amendment rights and treated them differently than other professions. They cited a separate bill that exempts some lawyers and their employees if the information was obtained through confidential dealings with clients.
Estudillo’s judgement zeroed in on that contrast, writing: “The government interest at issue in both statutes — protecting children from abuse and neglect — is the same. Nevertheless, one law eliminates the privilege for clergy while the other expands the privileges available to secular professionals.”
Trump’s Justice Department weighed in too, calling the law “anti-Catholic” and saying “a more direct burden on the exercise of religion would be difficult to imagine”.
The judge did not block any other part of the law, which means clergy will still be required to report abuse they learn about outside confession, even if they have no authority over the suspected perpetrator.
The case is ongoing and the final outcome could still change. Washington’s Eastern Orthodox Christian leaders have also filed a similar lawsuit.
