A new legislative proposal in Arizona could impose felony penalties on priests who do not break the seal of confession to report child abuse discovered during the sacrament.
House Bill 2039, introduced by state Rep. Anastasia Travers in December 2025, amends state code to mandate reporting if a priest has “reasonable suspicion to believe that the abuse is ongoing, will continue, or may be a threat to other minors.”
Non-compliance could result in class 6 felony charges, carrying fines up to $150,000 and imprisonment for up to two years. Travers, who prefiled a similar measure in 2023, did not respond to inquiries about the bill’s motivation.This initiative aligns with efforts in several U.S. states to compel clergy to violate confessional confidentiality under mandatory reporting laws.
In July 2025, a federal court blocked a comparable Washington state law on First Amendment grounds, leading the state to abandon it in October. Similar proposals have surfaced in Delaware, Vermont, Wisconsin, Montana, and even Hungary in 2025, though none have been enacted. California lawmakers proposed and withdrew one in 2019.
Under Catholic Church canon law, confessors are “absolutely forbidden” from betraying penitents “in any way” or for any reason, with violators facing automatic excommunication. Historically, priests have been martyred for upholding this seal.
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