A federal judge has halted a Washington state law that required Catholic priests to break the seal of confession. The law that was passed in May, and was slated to go into effect on July 27, mandated ...

Washington state's government and its Catholic bishops reached an agreement Oct. 10 in a federal lawsuit over the state's mandatory reporter law they said could force priests to violate the seal of ...

Roman Catholic priests in Washington cannot be required to report child abuse or neglect they learn of in confession, a federal judge ruled Friday. U.S. District Court Chief Judge David G. Estudillo ...

A federal court on July 18 blocked a controversial Washington state reporting law that would require priests to violate the seal of confession, siding with the state’s Catholic bishops who brought ...

The state is agreeing to a settlement that keeps in place an injunction protecting priests who learn of child abuse only through the confessional. Washington state Catholic bishops won a reprieve from ...

Gov. Bob Ferguson, at podium, goes to shake hands with state Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, at the signing of a bill to make clergy mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect, on May 2, 2025 in ...