Officials in Washington State have agreed to abandon a controversial plan that would have compelled Catholic priests to report information learned under the seal of Confession as part of the state’s mandatory child abuse reporting law.
A joint filing made in a federal district court on 10 October confirmed that the state and local prosecutors would no longer seek to compel clergy to break the confidentiality of the confessional.
The agreement followed months of legal battles after lawmakers passed Senate Bill 5375 earlier this year, adding clergy to the list of mandatory reporters but omitting an exemption for information revealed in sacramental Confession.
