DOJ launches probe into Washington law forcing Catholic priests to violate confessional seal
May 7, 2025
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has started an investigation into a new Washington State law that could require priests to violate the Catholic Church’s prohibition on sharing information received during confessions.
The Christian Post reports that, on Wednesday, the Trump administration opened a civil rights investigation into Washington State Senate Bill 5375, which was signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson last Friday.
The DOJ characterized the new law as a violation of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment by adding clergy to a list of professionals who are required to report child abuse or neglect to law enforcement.
Senate Bill 5375 also clarifies, “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” Washington State law.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said, “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.”
Dhillon added, “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.”
SB 5375 is supposed to go into effect in late July and will remove this portion of the current law, which states, “A member of the clergy, a Christian Science practitioner listed in the Christian Science Journal, or a priest shall not, without the consent of a person making the confession or sacred confidence, be examined as to any confession or sacred confidence made to him or her in his or her professional character, in the course of discipline enjoined by the church to which he or she belongs.”
According to the Christian Post, members of the clergy are considered mandatory child abuse supporters in 28 states with all but a handful including limited exceptions for those who are bound to confidentiality.
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