OLYMPIA (WA)
Deseret News [Salt Lake City, UT]
July 9, 2025
By Mariya Manzhos
Should clergy be required to report child abuse heard in confession? A new Washington law says yes, but the Justice Department and others are pushing back
This article was first published in the State of Faith newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night.
Religious liberty and child abuse
Amid the weekend’s patriotic festivities, one message focused on a core American freedom now under threat in Washington state. On July 4, Catholic Bishop Robert Barron filed a legal brief, calling on federal judges to block the state’s new law that requires clergy to report suspected child abuse or neglect, even if it’s shared during confession.
“Few religious practices are more misunderstood than the sacred seal of Confession in the Catholic Church,” Barron wrote, joining the lawsuit brought by the bishops of Washington state. The law openly targets the “time-honored seal of Confession,” he argued, and violates the Constitution’s promise of religious neutrality.
“Absolutely nothing ought to stand in the way of a sinner who seeks this font of grace,” Bishop Barron wrote.
Slated to go into effect on July 27, the law removes the long-standing legal protections around confidentiality of confession, also known as the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The U.S. Department of Justice sued the State of Washington, calling the law “anti-Catholic.” The Catholic Bishops of Washington and a group of Orthodox churches also filed lawsuits. A hearing is scheduled on July 14, per Catholic News Agency.
Supporters of the bill argue removing limits on the clergy-penitent privilege is a necessary to protect children from harm. “You never put somebody’s conscience above the protection of a child,” said Sen. Noel Frame, a Seattle Democrat, who sponsored the bill. “Clergy members have known about abuse for years and allowed that abuse to continue. This bill would change that,” the bill reads.
No child should be left vulnerable, advocates say, because someone chose to stay silent.
But for clergy, it’s not about secrecy or silence, but their sacred duty. I was interested to dig into why the seal is so crucial to confession and broader religious freedom.
“The purpose of this seal is to protect the penitent and foster a sense of safety and trust, allowing the individual to approach God for forgiveness without fear,” according to Alliance Defending Freedom, which sued Washington State on behalf of Orthodox churches.
Confession, others noted, is not a tool for gathering information but rather a sacred space of spiritual transformation.
The confidentiality is not a form of “malign secrecy,” said Lord Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, but “an assurance that all kinds of destructive and damaging behavior can be spoken out, named and acknowledged for what they are.”
As one priest put it, the law forces clergy to choose between faith and jail time. Under Catholic canon law, the confession seal is “inviolable with absolutely no exceptions” and breaking the seal of confession is a “canonical crime,” for which a priest is automatically excommunicated. But under the new state law, failing to report could carry a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.
There are ways of ensuring the safety of children without altering the sacred practice, according to opponents of the law.
In Washington, as in most states, clergy are already considered mandatory reporters. All three dioceses in the state have comprehensive child protection policies and required reporting of “reasonable suspicions of abuse” in other contexts, with the exception of confession. Washington joins six other states, including New Hampshire and North Carolina, that do not exempt confession from mandated reporting.
Without breaking the seal of confession, clergy can also encourage the penitent to report their sins to the priest and the authorities.
Beyond legal questions, the law raises practical concerns about enforcement. Could a priest be arrested solely on a penitent’s word? How could a priest report someone they’ve never seen or identified in the confessional?
Bishop Barron writes that if penitents believe their confessions might not remain private, they’re unlikely to confess at all. That would undermine not just the practice of confession, but the very principle of religious liberty that’s at the heart of America’s approach to faith.
Fresh off the press
Utah’s Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork has recently suffered a series of gunshot attacks, which the temple’s leaders believe was a hate-crime.
Last week, President Donald Trump held his first Faith Office conference call with nearly 10,000 of faith leaders from across the country, including Christians, Catholics, Jews, Muslims and other faiths. Media was not part of the call, but some leaders have reacted to the call on X.
In a Deseret Magazine piece, three experts reflect on the question: Are we actually in a constitutional crisis?
Term of the week: Camp Mystic
At the heart of the tragedy unfolding in Texas Hill Country is the Christian all-girls Camp Mystic, which suffered a devastating flood that killed 27 girls and staff summering at the camp. Eleven people are still missing, per The New York Times.
Situated roughly 85 miles northwest of San Antonio, the camp has been in operation for nearly a century. It was established in 1926 by E.J. “Doc” Stewart, who served as head coach of the Texas Longhorns football team (and is credited with introducing the team’s formerly Twitterd orange and white uniforms during his tenure, according to Reuters).
The camp has run every summer since then, with the exception of a three-year break during World War II, when the U.S. government used the grounds as a facility for Army Air Corps veterans. The camp has been owned by the same family since 1939, now led by the third generation owners Dick and Tweety Eastland, according to Reuters.
The camp is known for blending traditional camp activities with strong Christian values and Southern social traditions. It was attended by daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters of former President Lyndon B. Johnson and former first lady Laura Bush was a camp counselor, per Texas Monthly.
What I’m reading
As more stories of flood victims emerge, they reveal a portrait of a vibrant and faithful community. “In moments like this, we are reminded of life’s fragility and the lasting power of faith,” according to Rev. Joshua J. Whitfield, pastor of the church in Dallas, where two of the girls were parishioners as reported in The New York Times.
Ukrainian authorities decided to strip the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Onufriy, of his Ukrainian citizenship, due to alleged ties with Moscow.
The Bulwark has a great review of Christian Smith’s new book “Why Religion Went Obsolete.” The writer Daniel Gullotta concludes: “Whether Christianity can adapt, revive, or reinvent itself remains to be seen. But so long as Americans continue searching for meaning, community, and a story bigger than themselves, the last word on religion in America cannot be written.”
Odds and ends
Ahead of his 90th birthday celebration last week, Dalai Lama said he plans to be reincarnated after his death, which means that the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and his title will continue after his death. Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama and said he plans to live until 130.
I was struck by the humility in his remarks. “I feel I have not wasted my life, and although I have the title of Dalai Lama, I’m not proud of myself,” he said. “As a follower of the Buddha, a bhikshu or monk, serving other people and serving the teaching, these are my main practices.”
Mariya is a staff writer based in Boston. She writes profiles of interesting people and stories at the intersection of religion and culture.