Washington’s Senate Bill 5375 adds members of the clergy to report suspected child abuse to law enforcement.
Members of the clergy include “any regularly licensed, accredited, or ordained minister, priest, rabbi, imam, elder, or similarly positioned religious or spiritual leader.”
Yes, that includes Catholic priests.
“SB 5375 demands that Catholic Priests violate their deeply held faith in order to obey the law, a violation of the Constitution and a breach of the free exercise of religion cannot stand under our Constitutional system of government,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Worse, the law appears to single out clergy as not entitled to assert applicable privileges, as compared to other reporting professionals. We take this matter very seriously and look forward to Washington State’s cooperation with our investigation.”
I looked up the laws regarding reporting crimes for protestants, Islam, Judaism, etc. (If I am wrong, please let me know.)
Those laws allow it.
Catholic law: “Can. 983 §1. The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.”
A priest cannot break the confessional seal. Never. Not for anything.
He can encourage people to go to the police. He cannot make that a condition for absolution.
The man who hears the confession “who directly violates the sacramental seal incurs a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; he who does so only indirectly is to be punished according to the gravity of the offence.”
The penalty is automatic.
Even Seattle Archbishop Paul D. Etienne spoke out against the law:
This weekend at Mass, the first reading was from the Acts of the Apostles. After the apostles were arrested and thrown into jail for preaching the name of Jesus Christ, St. Peter responds to the Sanhedrin: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). This is our stance now in the face of this new law. Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession – or they will be excommunicated from the Church. All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by the law of the Church.
A priest can report anything to police if he did not hear about the crime during confession.
Bishop Thomas A. Daly of Spokane said: “I want to assure you that your shepherds, bishop and priests, are committed to keeping the seal of confession – even to the point of going to jail. The Sacrament of Penance is sacred and will remain that way in the Diocese of Spokane.”
This is from five years ago but it’s still relevant:
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