The archdiocese “is committed to transparency and accountability to help those who have been harmed heal and to rebuild trust,” the Friday statement said, adding that the archdiocese “remains steadfast in its offer to collaborate with the attorney general in a lawful manner.”
In a Thursday letter prior to the ruling, Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne had argued that the state charitable law contains “a very clear religious exemption that our Legislature adopted to limit the attorney general’s authority.”
“Because of this clear religious exemption, we simply cannot comply” with the subpoena, the archbishop wrote. “Doing so puts First Amendment rights and the foundational concept of separation of church and state at risk.”
The prelate further argued that the prosecutor’s request was “too broad” and that complying with the subpoena would involve “many months to produce irrelevant documents” and would “waste millions of dollars for us and for taxpayers.”
“To be very clear: We are not seeking to cover up the sins of the past,” the archbishop added. “We acknowledge that sexual abuse occurred; it is tragic and heartbreaking. We want abusers to be held accountable and we wish to dispel the fear that clergy sexual abuse is rampant today, because it is not.”