Catholic Church to excommunicate priests for following new US state law
www.newsweek.com
The Justice Department is investigating whether the new law violated the First Amendment.
  • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world
    31·
    4 hours ago

    So it was unclear to me from the article if it simply made priests mandatory reporters or if it went further. My understanding is that mandatory reporters don’t have to report past occurrences specifically. They only havecto report if it is currently happening or they suspect going to happen. If that is the case, it should be fine. Confession isn’t about what you are going to do.

    • TWeaK@lemm.eeEnglish
      4·
      2 hours ago

      Priests are being made into mandatory reporters in Washington state. In Washington state, the mandatory reporting law appears to require reporting of all past events of abuse - it does not make reference to recent acts or imminent risk.

      Sec. 2. (1) (a) When [any member of these groups] has reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered abuse or neglect, he or she shall report such incident, or cause a report to be made, to the proper law enforcement agency or to the department

      https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=5375&Year=2025