SEATTLE (WA)
Seattle Times [Seattle WA]
February 14, 2025
By Mary Dispenza
Re: “Step up, lawmakers, and pass bill to make clergy report abuse” (Feb. 4, Opinion):
State Sen. Noel Frame is right — no more compromise when it comes to crimes against children shared in confession.
I’m one of thousands of children who were failed by the seal of confession. How ludicrous that priests would call this secrecy a “privilege.” The seal of confession protects abusers, not children. If priests reported crimes against children and the perpetrator who committed the crime, the Catholic Church would be saving children. It is not.
I was sexually abused by the parish priest. I told a priest in confession about it. The crime was not reported. The perpetrator went on to sexually abuse dozens more little girls. He never spent a day in prison. The “priest privilege” to not report crimes does not protect children. Priests must be mandated reporters held to the same standards you and I are to report criminal acts against children. Priests are not above the law. It is vital that Washington state preserve the rule of law at a time when it appears to be diminishing at the federal level.
I agree with the editorial, this is the moment to make “what is morally right, legally right.” Please vote yes on Senate Bill 5375.
Mary Dispenza, Bellevue, Washington contact for SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests)