On April 17, the Senate refused to agree to the House’s amendment and sent the original bill back to the House. Now, the House must choose whether it wants to insist on its amendment, defer to the original Senate bill, or offer another alternative. If the House decides to insist on its amendment or offer another alternative, the legislation would then be sent back to the Senate again. If it defers to the original Senate language, the bill will head to the governor’s desk.
Any legislation that would try to force priests to violate the seal of confession would pit civil law against canon law. Canon 983 of the Code of Canon Law states that the seal of confession is “inviolable.”
“It is absolutely wrong for a confessor in any way to betray the penitent, for any reason whatsoever, whether by word or in any other fashion,” the canon declares.
The penalties for violating the seal of confession are strict. According to Canon 1386, if a priest “directly violates the sacramental seal,” he would incur an automatic excommunication. Any priest who violates the seal indirectly “is to be punished according to the gravity of the [offense].”
In his letter, Daly encouraged lawmakers to “make good law which is able to be followed and enforced” and remained optimistic that religious freedom would prevail.
“The state of Washington is not the first governing body to attempt to criminalize our commitment to keep the seal of confession sacred,” the bishop wrote. “History is replete with examples of kings, queens, dictators, potentates, and legislators who have attempted to have the seal of confession violated through law, coercion, or fiat. All have failed.”