Arizona bill would hit priests with felony if they fail to break confessional seal to report abuse
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Confessional. | Credit: Paul Lowry (CC BY 2.0)Jan 7, 2026 / 14:34 pm (CNA).A proposed law in Arizona could see priests facing felony charges if they fail to break the seal of confession after learning of child abuse during the sacrament. The measure, HB 2039, was introduced in December 2025 by state Rep. Anastasia Travers. It is awaiting action in the state House after Travers prefiled it on Dec. 4. The bill would amend the state code to require priests to report abuse learned during confession if they have "reasonable suspicion to believe that the abuse is ongoing, will continue, or may be a threat to other minors."Failure to report a "reportable offense" could lead to class 6 felony charges under the bill. Those charges in Arizona can lead to up to $150,000 in fines and up to two years of imprisonment. Travers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bill and why she proposed it. She previously filed a similar bill in 2023.Lawmakers in multiple U.S....
Confessional. | Credit: Paul Lowry (CC BY 2.0)
Jan 7, 2026 / 14:34 pm (CNA).
A proposed law in Arizona could see priests facing felony charges if they fail to break the seal of confession after learning of child abuse during the sacrament.
The measure, HB 2039, was introduced in December 2025 by state Rep. Anastasia Travers. It is awaiting action in the state House after Travers prefiled it on Dec. 4.
The bill would amend the state code to require priests to report abuse learned during confession if they have "reasonable suspicion to believe that the abuse is ongoing, will continue, or may be a threat to other minors."
Failure to report a "reportable offense" could lead to class 6 felony charges under the bill. Those charges in Arizona can lead to up to $150,000 in fines and up to two years of imprisonment.
Travers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bill and why she proposed it. She previously filed a similar bill in 2023.
Lawmakers in multiple U.S. states in recent years have moved to require priests to violate the seal of confession as part of mandatory reporting laws.
One such law in Washington state suffered a dramatic defeat in July 2025 after a federal court blocked the measure on First Amendment grounds. The rule had drawn rebuke from the U.S. bishops, the White House, Orthodox church leaders, and other advocates. The state backed off the law in October 2025.
Similar measures in Delaware, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Montana have been proposed over the past few years, though none have come to pass. One such law was also proposed in Hungary in October 2025. In 2019, California lawmakers proposed and then backed off of a similar bill.
Priests are bound to never divulge what they hear in confession on pain of excommunication. Multiple priests in Church history have been martyred after they were executed for refusing to break that seal.
Church canon law dictates that it is "absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason."
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