Washington Declares War On Faith; Seattle Archbishop Warns Priests to Remain Firm

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As its cardinals gather for their conclave today at the Vatican, the Catholic Church and other faiths find itself under assault — not just in China and North Korea, but in the state of Washington. Despite impassioned opposition, Gov. Bob Ferguson has signed a new law stripping members of the clergy of their ability to hear confessions as “privileged communication.” The state legislature passed SB 5375 to explicitly target the confessional and require priests and ministers to report any confession involving potential child abuse.

The title makes the intent clear: “AN ACT Relating to the duty of clergy to report child abuse and neglect”, and so does the language. It redefines “member of the clergy” to include both ordained ministers and priests as well as lay ministers, and asserts authority over the conduct of:

official duties that are recognized as the duties of a member of the clergy under the discipline, tenets, doctrine, or custom of the person’s church, religious denomination,religious body, spiritual community, or sect 

The law then adds this definition of “members of the clergy” and its activities to its list of required reporters. As if the intrusion into the confessional was not clear enough, the law also explicitly strips any claim of privilege from “members of the clergy”:

Except for members of the clergy, no one shall be required to report under this section when he or she obtains the information solely as a result of a privileged communication as provided in RCW 5.60.060.

The law specifically inserted “Except for members of the clergy” into that part of the statute. The hostility toward faith communities is both obvious and intentional. So too is the ignorance of the way that confessionals usually work, but we’ll get to that in a moment. 

No priest will comply with this law, and if they do, they won’t be a priest for long, nor will they remain Catholic. The archibishop of Seattle made that much clear to his priests:

“Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession — or they will be excommunicated from the Church,” the Archdiocese of Seattle said in a statement. “All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by the law of the Church.”

“The Catholic Church agrees with the goal of protecting children and preventing child abuse,” the statement added, noting that it “remains committed to reporting child sexual abuse, working with victim survivors towards healing and protecting all minors and vulnerable people.” 

The new law — signed by Democrat Gov. Bob Ferguson last week — added “members of the clergy” to a list of professionals who are required to report information that relates to child abuse or neglect to law enforcement, and the measure does not provide an exception for information offered at a confession booth.

First off, ministers and laity are already required to report this information when presented in non-privileged communication. Catholic dioceses require all adults who come into contact with minors or vulnerable adults to go through training to learn those requirements and to recognize signs of potential abuse. That includes priests when operating off of non-privileged information. 

However, priests also hear confessions, which are privileged communications — and have always been treated as such. They have the same privilege as attorneys in dealing with clients, whose privilege notably remains undisturbed by Ferguson and the Washington legislature. This cuts to the literal core of Catholic faith, as well as some other ecclesial communities, which rests on priests absolving sins in persona Christi as key to access salvation and the Eucharist. If priests are now required to act as agents of the state in the confessional, no Catholic will feel safe in confessing their sins. It will put a stop to the practice of Catholicism in the state of Washington. 

Furthermore, this evinces ignorance of the confessional process. Face-to-face confessions are more in vogue these days, although not my favorite practice, but in the main confessions are heard anonymously. Priests don’t see the penitents, and so there isn’t a way to testify firmly about who said what. On top of that, confessions are heard en masse, usually at set times when people line up to go through the sacrament. A priest would have to jump out of the confessional, throw open the door, demand ID, and then call the police for this to even approach its goal. In the real world, priests might recall a specific confession of abuse, but in the midst of other confessions from a blur of parishioners. This would be utterly useless as evidence, and probably just as useless in any legitimate investigation. 

It’s an absurdity, whose only purpose is to virtue-signal hostility to religion in general and Catholics in particular. Jonathan Turley agrees this is a war on faith, and not just in Washington:

The Democrats effectively declared war on religion, and particularly the Catholic faith, with this abusive law. The matter is now set for a showdown in the federal courts and, hopefully, an expedited process for judicial review and appeals.

Washington has been one of the most aggressive states in litigating against religious rights, including its long litigation in the Masterpiece Cake Shop case.

In Washington, the governor and the Democrats have added to the four stages of the confession. Examination, confession, absolution, and penance may now be followed by incarceration.

He also notes that the confessional privilege has court precedent stretching back over 200 years:

In 1813 in New York, the clergy-penitent privilege faced an early challenge in People v. Philips. In that case, Fr. Anthony Kohlmann learned in the confessional about two people who had stolen jewelry and convinced them to turn over stolen goods to him.  He then returned the goods to the victims. However, after the thieves were later arrested, state prosecutors sought to force Fr. Kohlmann to testify. The court, however, ruled that he was constitutionally exempt.

The Left’s war on religion and faith is offensive in just about every way possible. Shame on Ferguson and the state legislature, and may God have mercy on their souls if they ever try to enforce this abomination.