SACRAMENTO (CA)
Associated Press
July 9, 2019
By Adam Beam
A bill that would require California religious leaders to report their co-workers’ confessions of child abuse or neglect has been put on hold amid opposition from the Catholic church.
California law already requires clergy to report knowledge of child abuse and neglect. But they can keep it a secret if they learned about it during a confession.
State Sen. Jerry Hill, a Democrat from San Mateo, wrote a bill this year to change that, but only if the confession was from another religious leader or someone who works at the church. It passed the Senate by a vote of 30-4 in May.
On Tuesday, Hill announced he was putting the bill on hold because it did not have enough support to pass the state Assembly. But Hill said the issue remains important to him, and he vowed to continue his efforts to pass it.
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