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 ...

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 permanently withdrew the law requiring clergy to violate the sacred “seal of confession” by reporting sexual abuse that was disclosed in a confession booth, according to a court order ...

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 ...

The Catholic Church and federal government reacted vehemently to new legislation in Washington state that requires priests to report child abuse or neglect to law enforcement after learning about the ...

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 ...

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 ...

In recent years, some Catholics have been concerned by pushes from governments in locations such as Louisiana and Australia who challenge the secrecy of the sacrament of confession, asking that ...

For generations, American Catholics regularly went to confession, a sacred rite that offers a way to reconcile with God and the Church. But starting in the 1970s, they stopped, and in his new book, ...