'According to a report by InvestigateWest, the Washington State Catholic Conference says that confession is “a part of faith and religion and a practice that secular government doesn’t have any place to impinge on.”
When it comes to protecting children from abuse, government not only has a place, it has a responsibility.
The Catholic Church, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been rocked with civil cases involving sexual assault of children. The Catholic Church has spent millions nationwide in lobbying to keep the confession exemption in state laws.
Society must put children first. To know that a child has been abused, yet not sounding the alarm goes against social norms and is unconscionable.
The Seattle Times editorial board '