Washington: A U.S. federal court has blocked a contentious law in Washington state that would have compelled Catholic priests to break the sacred seal of confession in cases involving child abuse. The ruling, issued on July 18, marks a significant victory for religious freedom advocates and the Catholic Church, which had strongly opposed the measure.
The legislation, signed into law earlier this year by Governor Robert Ferguson, designated clergy as mandatory reporters of child abuse. However, unlike similar laws in other states, it failed to provide an exemption for information disclosed during the sacrament of confession effectively forcing priests to choose between obeying civil law or adhering to a centuries-old religious obligation.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge David Estudillo sharply criticized the law, asserting it imposed an unconstitutional burden on the free exercise of religion. “There is no doubt that the law pressures clergy to violate their deeply held religious beliefs,” Estudillo wrote. He also noted that the legislation explicitly amended state law for the purpose of including clergy, and did so without offering the kind of religious exemptions typically extended to other professionals, such as attorneys or physicians.
The court concluded that the law was not neutral in its application and unfairly singled out religious practices for harsher treatment than secular counterparts. Judge Estudillo emphasized that more than two dozen U.S. states have managed to require clergy to report abuse while preserving the sanctity of confession a balance Washington had failed to strike.
The ruling means Washington state officials are now barred from enforcing the law. The injunction follows a lawsuit filed by the Catholic bishops of Washington, who argued that the statute violated the First Amendment’s protection of religious liberty, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and provisions of the state constitution.
Among those named in the suit were Governor Ferguson, State Attorney General Nicholas Brown, and over 30 county prosecutors. Earlier this week, many of the prosecutors agreed not to appeal the court’s decision in exchange for being released from the case. However, Ferguson and Brown remain as defendants.
The case has drawn widespread attention and support. The U.S. Department of Justice submitted an opinion criticizing the law for unfairly denying clergy the same confidentiality privileges that other professionals enjoy. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and a coalition of Orthodox Christian groups also backed the lawsuit. Bishop Robert Barron of Minnesota weighed in as well, warning that such a law would erode trust in one of the Church’s most sacred rites.
Internationally, the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy which represents over 500 priests and deacons from the U.S., Australia, and the U.K. issued a strong condemnation, stating that compelling priests to reveal what is heard in confession would amount to a direct attack on religious liberty.
Despite legal pressures, Church leaders in Washington have consistently assured the faithful that the sacramental seal of confession would never be compromised. “Priests are bound to protect the seal—even if it means imprisonment,” said Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly earlier this year.
Under Catholic canon law, any priest who intentionally breaks the seal of confession is automatically excommunicated a testament to the gravity with which the Church upholds the confidentiality of the sacrament. Bishop Barron told the court that the confessional is a divine encounter, where penitents speak not merely to a priest, but to God himself.
The court’s decision now reaffirms that no law should obstruct that sacred conversation.