Catholic Church

President Donald Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating an “anti-Catholic law” in Washington state that threatens priests with up to one year in jail if they fail to report child abuse they learn about during the sacrament of confession.

The Catholic Church announced that priests will be excommunicated if they follow a new Washington state law requiring clergy to report confessions about child abuse to law enforcement.

"Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession — or they will be excommunicated from the Church," the Archdiocese of Seattle said in a statement. "All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by the law of the Church."

"The Catholic Church agrees with the goal of protecting children...

The Catholic Church has issued a warning to its clergy in Washington state: Any priest who complies with a new law requiring the reporting of child abuse confessions to authorities will be excommunicated.

The new law, which will take effect on July 27, eliminates the long-standing confidentiality of the confessional, forcing Catholic leaders and lawmakers into a highly charged standoff over religious liberty and child protection.

The Catholic Church and federal government reacted vehemently to new legislation in Washington state that requires priests to report child abuse or neglect to law enforcement after learning about the crime through confessions. 

Gov. Mike Ferguson signed the controversial bill into law last week, making it mandatory for all clergy to report child abuse, without exemptions for information disclosed during confession. Confessions were previously considered privileged...

The Catholic Church has a new pope.

American Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected the 267th pontiff. He has chosen the name Leo XIV, a senior cardinal deacon announced.

The 69-year-old Chicago native is the first American pope and is seen as a diplomat in the church...

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected the new pope, set to succeed the late Pope Francis and mark the first time an American has served as pope.

The Vatican announced the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, shortly after white smoke began pouring from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday.

Cardinal Robert Prevost, an American missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and leads the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church. Prevost, 69, took the name Leo XIV.

Popes aren’t meant to be revolutionaries. Pope Francis, however, was. For a church steeped in tradition, change usually comes slowly, if at all. Francis, who died on Monday, understood this but never seemed dissuaded by it. But though he may have reinvigorated the Catholic Church, Francis did not resolve its fissures. Particularly in the United States, he deepened them — becoming a protagonist in, as well as a victim of, the country’s culture wars.

It’s 10am on Sunday, and people are already starting to filter through the doors of Harbour Church. Sun streams through the windows – there’s an air of anticipation as congregation members greet each other and catch up on the week just gone. Soon, the room is filling up, the sound of gentle chatter swelling as the throng grows and people take their seats. The five-piece worship band strikes up; the crowd gets to its feet; the air vibrates as more than a hundred voices sing praises to God.