Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
A first-term Democratic lawmaker wants to enact an exception to state laws that allow clergy to refuse to disclose what was told to them in confession or similar confidential communication.
But Rep. Stacey Travers of Phoenix has so far run into a procedural wall. Rep. Quang Nguyen, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, where her bill was assigned earlier this year, refused to even give it a hearing.
And the Prescott Valley Republican told Capitol Media Services that he’s not prepared to allow the bill to proceed in 2024, even if it deals only with cases of child abuse and neglect.
“The seal of confession is a sacred, sacred part of the Catholic church,” said Nguyen who is Catholic.
“The seal of confession is never to be broken,” he said. “And priests will go to jail for it.”
