No confession for the police: The court block forces the priest to report the misuse of the child to the Washington Act; Priests reveal the revelations
A federal court killed a law in the state of Washington last Friday, which would have forced Catholic priests to report child abuse, even though the information came through confession. District Judge David Estudilo said that the law clearly intervened in religious freedom, placed priests in an impossible place to follow their faith or break the law. “There is no question that law puts a burden on the free practice of religion,” he wrote. The law was passed earlier this year and signed by Governor Robert Ferguson. This added the pastor to the list of mandatory misuse reporters of the state. But unlike doctors or lawyers, priests were not exempted for private confessional conversations. Judge Estudilo said that it made the law biased, not neutral, and incorrectly targeted religion. CNA reported that more than two dozen other US states already allow exceptions for confession, and the judge said that Washington could do so. The lawsuit was filed by the state’s Catholic bishop and widely supported the Catholic Bishop’s American conference to the orthodox churches and even the US Department of Justice.A Catholic pastor group representing priests from the US, Britain and Australia said that the move insulted religious practice, preserving legal privacy for doctors and lawyers.
