Three North Dakota state legislators introduced a bill this week that would oblige Catholic priests to violate the seal of Confession in cases of confirmed or suspected child abuse, on penalty of imprisonment or heavy fines.
The bill was introduced January 12 by a number of Republican and Democrat state senators and state representatives.
The current mandatory reporting law in North Dakota states that clergy are considered mandatory reporters of known or suspected child abuse, except in cases when “the knowledge or suspicion is derived from information received in the capacity of spiritual adviser”, such as in the confessional.
The bill, SB 2180, would amend that law to abolish this exception. If passed, priests who would fail to report known or suspected child abuse, even if revealed in the confessional, would be considered guilty of a Class B misdemeanour and face 30 days in jail or fines up to $1,500 or both.
Priests are bound by Canon Law to keep the contents of a confession confidential.
Christopher Dodson, the executive director and general counsel for the North Dakota Catholic Conference, told CNA that he was “surprised and greatly concerned about the bill, because it would infringe upon a person’s privacy and religious counselling and confession, not just for Catholics, but for everyone”.
“In the United States, we expect to exercise our religion, including going to Confession and having spiritual counselling, without the government invading our privacy,” he said.