A federal judge sided with Catholic priests, blocking a Washington law that targeted the confidentiality of confession.

In Etienne v. Ferguson, the Archdiocese of Seattle and the dioceses of Spokane and Yakima argued that the new law violated ...

One supporter of the law, a member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, called the court decision "a ...

Confession, the Catholic and Orthodox practice of listing one’s sins in the presence of a priest who then offers absolution and is sworn to secrecy under pain of eternal damnation, has long been a ...

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office reported on Friday that it has reached an agreement with the Catholic Church ...

The laws of the Catholic Church require priests to maintain the seal of confession or face excommunication. Washington’s law ...

A confessional is seen in a file photo. Washington state’s government and its Catholic bishops reached an agreement Oct. 10, ...

Catholic Bishops in Washington state are speaking out against a new law that would require them to disclose confessions of sexual abuse to law enforcement. Last week, Gov. Robert Ferguson (D-WA) ...

(The Conversation) — The Catholic Church treats information shared during confession as absolutely confidential – but that requirement can create legal dilemmas. (The Conversation) — The 1953 Alfred ...

The 1953 Alfred Hitchcock film “I Confess,” based on an earlier play, features a priest suspected of murder. He’s innocent, and has even heard the murderer’s confession – but cannot clear his own name ...