The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the state of Washington's new law that could require priests to violate the Catholic Church's prohibition on sharing information received during confessions, which a Catholic bishop accused of overstepping the boundaries of church and state.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration opened a civil rights investigation into "the development and passage of Washington State Senate Bill 5375." The measure was signed into law by Washington's Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson last Friday.
The Justice Department characterized the legislation as an apparent violation of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
"SB 5375 demands that Catholic Priests violate their deeply held faith in order to obey the law, a violation of the Constitution and a breach of the free exercise of religion cannot stand under our Constitutional system of government," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, who is an adherent of ...
