Confession, the Catholic and Orthodox practice of listing one’s sins in the presence of a priest who then offers absolution and is sworn to secrecy under pain of eternal damnation, has long been a ...

Washington state officials have agreed to a permanent court order that prevents the enforcement of a controversial law provision which sought to criminalize Orthodox Christian priests for upholding ...

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 granted ...

The state of Washington reached an agreement with Catholic officials this week not to require priests to report information that they learn in sacramental confession about suspected child abuse or ...

(RNS) — In May, Washington state passed a law requiring clergy to report child abuse to the authorities even when it is revealed during the sacrament of confession — a betrayal of confidence known as ...

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 Catholic Church is pushing back against a new law that was rushed through the legislature by Democrats over concerns of clergy, requiring priests to break the confidentiality of confession.

If such a thing as a “political confessional” existed, where errant officeholders could go to seek forgiveness for colossally wrongheaded actions, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson and a majority of his ...

A group of Orthodox churches is suing to block a new law in Washington State that requires priests to violate the seal of confession and report incidents of child abuse. In May, Washington’s ...

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 ...

(THE CONVERSATION) In the autum on 2024, a Swiss Catholic church installed an AI Jesus in a confessional to interact with visitors. This hologram of Jesus Christ on a screen was animated by an ...