Washington Court Issues Order Protecting Seal of Confession
On Friday, October 10, 2025, attorneys for the State of Washington filed a stipulated Order through which the state government and its county prosecutors agreed to entry of a permanent injunction from enforcing a law that would have required priests to report certain information obtained through the Sacrament of Confession. The State of Washington further agreed not to deny clergy the benefit of any privileged communication exceptions that are available under the law to other mandatory reporters.
This is a significant legal victory not only for Orthodox Christians, but for all Christians who recognize the Sacrament of Confession or sacred confidences. This successful outcome is the result of a legal challenge brought earlier this year by the Orthodox Church in America and several other Orthodox jurisdictions and clergy in response to a Washington State law that specifically targeted clergy and would have compelled priests to violate the Seal of Confession under a wide variety of circumstances. Such an outcome would have forced priests to choose between following canon law or secular law, a choice that carried with it the penalty of significant fines and even imprisonment. Moreover, the unwarranted intrusion of the government into the Sacrament of Confession would ultimately have deterred many penitents from seeking absolution in the first place.
This ruling represents an important affirmation of religious freedom for Christians everywhere, and the Orthodox Church in America is grateful to all who contributed to this effort on behalf of clergy and faithful.
Commenting on the ruling, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon said, “The bishops and priests of the Orthodox Church in America carry a sacred obligation to maintain the seal of confession without compromise. This decision affirms that duty both in law and in conscience. We thank God for this resolution and for all who labored to bring it about.”
More information is available at the websites of the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Ethics and Public Policy Center.