A bill recently introduced in the Arizona House of Representatives would force priests to break the seal of Confession or face felony charges by attempting to require clergy to report child abuse if the information about the abuse was learned while hearing a confession.
HB 2039, prefiled Dec. 4 by Democratic Rep. Stacey Travers, would do away with the current religious exemption for the seal of Confession in Arizona’s statute on mandatory reporters of physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, and other harm done to minors. Under the revised statute, clergy would be required to disclose information if there is “reasonable suspicion to believe that the abuse is ongoing, will continue or may be a threat to other minors.”
Failure to notify authorities about a “reportable offense” could result in clergy being charged with a class 6 felony, which in Arizona carries penalties of fines up to $150,000 and up to two years of imprisonment.
The bill also proposes to amend a statute dealing with civil actions, changing the law to say that clergy may be examined in a civil action without the consent of the penitent if the priest determines that the confession involves ongoing abuse.
According to an article by Capitol Media Services’ Howard Fischer and shared by local NPR affiliate KAWC, Travers introduced a similar bill in 2023 and former Rep. Victoria Steele, a Democrat, also introduced a bill to the same effect in 2022. Both bills were met with opposition from the state legislature. In 2022, the Arizona Catholic Conference called Steele’s bill “legislation hostile to religious liberty.”
CatholicVote previously reported that Washington state attempted to enforce a law violating the seal of confession in 2025, but was prevented from doing so when the U.S. Department of Justice and Catholic and Orthodox clergy sued. Washington agreed in October to drop the policy and respect the confession seal.
As CatholicVote reported at the time, Jean Hill, the executive director of the Washington State Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops in matters of public policy, commented on the decision.
“Preventing abuse and upholding the sacred seal of confession are not mutually exclusive — we can and must do both,” Hill said. “That’s why the Church supported the law’s goal from the beginning and only asked for a narrow exemption to protect the sacrament. We’re grateful the state ultimately recognized it can prevent abuse without forcing priests to violate their sacred vows.”
The post Proposed Arizona legislation threatens seal of Confession appeared first on CatholicVote org.