The U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit against Washington state over a new law that requires Catholic priests to break the confidentiality seal of confession. A department release characterized the law as “anti-Catholic.”

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the legislation into law in early May. The bill requires Catholic priests to divulge information about neglect or abuse of a child that was shared during a confession.

Archbishop Paul Etienne in Seattle wrote in a statement posted by the Washington State Catholic Conference that the position of the church is to stand in defiance of the law. “We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). This is our stance now in the face of this new law.”

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