NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Proposed legislation looking to repeal clergy-penitent protections in at least two states is in a head-on collision with the church’s primary legal code, one expert told OSV News.
Montana and Washington are among the states seeking to compel clergy to disclose abuse revealed to them in the context of the sacrament of reconciliation or similar confidential pastoral settings in other faith traditions.
Earlier in January, Washington state Sen. Noel Frame introduced a third bill to mandate clergy to report abuse revealed under the seal of confession or in pastoral counseling. Two previous bills sponsored by state lawmakers failed; the latest would mandate clergy who receive information about abuse in confession to report it to authorities, but would allow them to abstain from testifying in court cases or criminal proceedings.
On Jan. 14, Montana state Sen. Mary Dunwell introduced SB 139, which seeks to strike an existing provision that does not require priests or other clergy to report abuse if the information was revealed in such settings. Currently, Montana recognizes that such confidentiality can be required by “canon law, church doctrine, or established church practice,” although SB 139 bill would eliminate that consideration.