Bishop Barron (@BishopRobertBarron) / Facebook (Left), Confessional / Pexels (Right)
Following Washington state’s passage of a bill that attempts to force priests to violate the seal of Confession, Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, has urged a federal court to protect religious freedom and strike down the legislation.
Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the bill in early May. It requires Catholic priests to report child abuse if it is disclosed within the Sacrament of Confession. The Catholic Church holds that priests must abide by the seal of Confession, which prohibits them disclosing any information they learn within the sacrament. A priest is automatically excommunicated if he breaks the seal.
Attorneys with Thomas More Society (TMS) filed July 4 an amicus curiae or “friend of the court” brief to the US District Court for the Western District of Washington on behalf of Bishop Barron. In 2019, when he was auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, he advocated against a proposed California bill that would have also forced priests to violate the seal of Confession, according to the brief.
The brief penned by attorneys Peter Breen and Shöen Parnel explains that in the sacrament of Confession, the sinner receives healing and forgiveness from Christ Himself through the ministry of the priest, who is operating in the person of Christ.
“Hence, absolutely nothing ought to stand in the way of a sinner who seeks this font of grace,” it states. “This gives rise to the indispensable importance of the seal: If a penitent is aware the priest might (let alone must) share with others what was given in the most sacred confidence, he or she would be reluctant indeed to ever approach Confession.”
The brief describes Washington SB 5375 as being “manifestly premised on a disrespect for the confessional seal” and therefore in violation of the First Amendment. The brief also argues that the bill directly targets clergy by specifically removing a mandatory reporting exemption for Confession, and the bill‘s “background circumstances confirm its purpose to target the seal of Confession for special disfavor.”
“By intentionally removing an exception for the clergy-penitent privilege contained in prior versions of the bill… the record evinces an anti-religious hostility ‘odious to our Constitution,’” it argues.
On the subject of the legislature’s responsibility to neutrality, the brief argues that the bill’s primary sponsor, Washington state Sen. Noel Frame, has made problematic comments regarding the seal of Confession. According to the brief, Frame previously characterized the seal of Confession as a “coverup” for child neglect and abuse, when she said during a February Senate Floor debate that an exception to the mandatory reporting for priests in Confession would make a “loophole that would allow the coverup of the abuse and neglect of children.”
The brief argues: “The public hostility towards the seal of Confession manifested in these comments is simply inescapable.” In its conclusion, the brief urges the court to grant plaintiffs’ motions for preliminary injunctions.
Bishop Barron said in a July 4 X post regarding the bill that “Catholics should be outraged that the state should seek to limit a penitent’s access to the font of Grace. And in fact, all Americans should stand against this egregious violation of the First Amendment.”
Bishop Barron is a member of the United States Religious Liberty Commission President Donald Trump established in May to protect religious freedom in America and raise awareness of threats against that right.
The brief notes that given the bishop’s membership in the commission, he “has a designated interest in ensuring the rights of priests and penitents are upheld in courts across the country. And he is well-suited to provide further insights to the Court about the theological underpinnings of the sacrament of Confession and to present the First Amendment’s rich tapestry of protections against laws like SB 5375 that directly target a disfavored religious practice for special disabilities.”
Under SB 5375, priests face up to 364 days in prison, a $5,000 fine, and civil liability if they violate the law, as CatholicVote previously reported. The Catholic bishops of Washington state sued Ferguson and many county prosecutors in late May over the law, which is set to take effect July 27. Several Orthodox churches and an Orthodox priest filed a federal lawsuit June 16 over the law as well.
Peter Breen, TMS executive vice president and head of litigation, praised Bishop Barron for taking action as well.
“Bishop Barron’s leadership on this issue reflects the courage and clarity needed when governments attempt to interfere with religion,” Breen said in a July 7 press release. “This law criminalizes a sacred religious sacrament that is at the core of Catholic religious practice.”
Breen added that since America’s founding, the seal of Confession has been respected as being “the rightful domain of the Church — not the state.”
“The Founders understood that each person’s primary duty to God generally supports, rather than conflicts with, the well-being of society — a reality that Washington’s lawmakers have forgotten,” he said. “We urge the court to uphold this perennial truth and constitutional guarantee by striking down Washington’s SB 5375.”
