An appeals court ruled March 2 that the Archdiocese of Seattle must hand over documents demanded by the Washington attorney general as part of an investigation into whether the archdiocese used charitable funds to cover up clergy sex abuse claims.
The Washington Court of Appeals’ decision overturns a 2024 decision from a lower court that had allowed the archdiocese to refuse the subpoena, which had been issued that year by then-Attorney General Bob Ferguson, according to The Seattle Times. Ferguson’s investigation aimed to discover “whether recent reforms publicized by the Church are being implemented and whether they are effective,” according to the ruling.
The archdiocese denied the records, saying the subpoena requested every receipt from Washington parishes and schools since Jan. 1, 1940. In a March 3 statement, Archbishop Paul Etienne said the process of finding the requested information would produce “irrelevant documents and waste millions of dollars to us and taxpayers.”
According to the ruling, the archdiocese had argued it was not subject to Ferguson’s investigative authority, but the appeals court determined that the archdiocese’s religious exemption does not apply in this case. The Seattle Times reported that the judges “found the Archdiocese can only seek a religious exemption from specific laws when it’s truly necessary to protect religious freedom.”
However, the court ruled that the original subpoena’s scope was overly broad and would infringe on the archdiocese’s religious protections, and directed the lower court to limit the scope.
“The subpoena cannot be enforced to the extent the AGO purports to determine whether any given act or expenditure by the Archdiocese was ‘for the use, purpose, benefit and behoof’ of the church. But the subpoena may and should be enforced to the extent the AGO seeks evidence relevant to determining the existence of an act that was criminal, tortious, or both, including sexual abuse by clergy,” the ruling states.
In his statement, Archbishop Etienne said he wants to make it clear that the archdiocese shares “the same goals as the Attorney General: to prevent abuse and pursue healing for victims.”
“As a way to continue healing for our Church and for victim survivors, we want to give a transparent accounting of the history without jeopardizing the privacy of victim survivors,” he said.
Archbishop Etienne said the archdiocese is pleased the subpoena was found to be too broad and threatening to religious freedom. He added that the archdiocese is open to working with the attorney general “to find a more balanced set of records to share — along with a guarantee for the privacy of victim survivors as we do not want the state’s investigation to re-traumatize them in any way.”
Ferguson, who is now the governor of Washington, issued a statement calling for the archdiocese to “do the right thing” and transparently account for its handling of clergy abuse claims.
The post Appeals court allows subpoena, investigation into Seattle Archdiocese over sex abuse claims appeared first on CatholicVote org.