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July 9, 2019

Bill against seal of confession withdrawn before key hearing

California state Sen. Jerry Hill, a Democrat, listens to another state legislator on the Senate floor at the California Capitol in Sacramento May 9, 2019. In a last-minute twist, a California bill that would have required priests to break the sacramental seal of confession was shelved July 8 by Hill amid a grassroots campaign mounted by the state's Catholics, members of other faith groups and religious liberty advocates from across the United States.

LOS ANGELES -- In a last-minute twist, a California bill that would have required priests to break the sacramental seal of confession was shelved by its sponsor amid a remarkable grassroots campaign mounted by the state's Catholics, members of other faith groups, and religious liberty advocates from across the country.

Published in International
June 4, 2019

Challenges to seal of confession attributed to clergy sex abuse scandals

Father Lawrence C. Goode hears confession May 8, 2019, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in East Palo Alto, Calif.

WASHINGTON -- For centuries, the Catholic Church has maintained that what a penitent says to a priest in the confessional is strictly confidential, but in 2019 that rite continues to be challenged by governments.

Published in International