(ZENIT News / Seattle, 05.13.2025).- A new child protection law in Washington State has sparked a national constitutional confrontation with international echoes, pitting the sacred confidentiality of Catholic confession against the civic duty to report abuse. As Senate Bill 5375 becomes law, both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Archdiocese of Seattle find themselves navigating the fraught terrain where faith and legal obligation collide. Signed into law on May 2 by Governor Bob Ferguson—a Democrat and «practicing Catholic»—the bill expands mandatory reporting laws to include clergy, with no exemption for information disclosed during confession. Supporters see it as a moral and legal imperative to protect children. Critics see it as an unprecedented state intrusion into religious freedom. But for the Catholic Church, the issue is not simply legal—it is sacramental. Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle responded by invoking a defiant biblical principle: “We must obey God rather than men.” The statement, echoing the Acts of the Apostles, underscores the gravity of the situation for Catholic clergy: to reveal what is heard in confession is to violate divine law—and face automatic excommunication. “The confessional is sacred,” Etienne said. “It is a space of reconciliation and mercy. It cannot be transformed into an interrogation room.” The heart of the conflict lies in the nature of confession itself. Under canon law, a priest who discloses any part of a confession is subject to the Church’s most severe penalty: excommunication «latae sententiae», automatic and irrevocable. There are no exceptions, not even to prevent a crime. While acknowledging the moral imperative to protect children and prevent abuse—goals the archdiocese says it shares—Etienne stressed that existing policies already require priests to report abuse, «unless» the information comes through confession. To the Church, then, the new law is not about child protection, but about precedent. “The state now demands that priests violate an essential element of a sacrament,” Etienne warned. “This is not simply policy—it is interference in religious practice.” The U.S. Department of Justice seems to agree, at least provisionally. In a rare public statement, the DOJ called the law “prima facie” unconstitutional and announced an investigation led by its Civil Rights Division. Deputy Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon was unequivocal: “This law compels clergy to violate deeply held religious beliefs to comply with civil mandates. That is not acceptable under our constitutional framework.” According to the DOJ, the law does more than mandate reporting. It isolates clergy by denying them legal privileges afforded to other professionals, including attorneys and therapists, when it comes to confidential communications. “SB 5375 appears to single out clergy, making them the only supervisors denied legal protections for confidential conversations,” the Department’s statement read. “We take this seriously, and we expect the State of Washington to cooperate with our inquiry.” Proponents of the bill, however, are unmoved. State Senator Noel Frame, its chief sponsor, argues that some values—especially child safety—must override religious custom. “No one,” Frame stated, “not even the Church, is above the law.” The bill passed with relatively narrow margins: 64-31 in the House, 28-20 in the Senate. Its journey to law has reignited an age-old debate at the very core of American identity: how to balance individual liberty with the common good, especially when religion is involved. This conflict is likely to escalate, potentially reaching the Supreme Court. At stake is more than a state law—it is the interpretation of the First Amendment itself, which prohibits laws “respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Thank you for reading our content. If you would like to receive ZENIT’s daily e-mail news, you can subscribe for free through this link.