California’s controversial bill that would have forced Catholic priests to violate the seal of confession has been withdrawn by its Democratic sponsor, state Sen. Jerry Hill. The move comes as a bit of a shock, as the bill sailed through the state Senate in May by a vote of 30 to 4 with no Democratic opposition, and the Democrats enjoy a 61 to 19 majority in the California State Assembly where the bill was being debated.
Clergy are already mandatory reporters for sexual abuse in California, as are teachers, law enforcement, and medical professionals. However, Catholic priests are granted a religious exemption from the law for actions communicated to them during the sacrament of confession. Priests are bound to secrecy about the sins confessed by penitents, under pain of excommunication. As in the Alfred Hitchcock film I Confess, they cannot reveal anything, even to save their own lives.
California would have been the first state to do away with this exemption if the bill, SB 360, had passed. But on Monday, the California Assembly’s Public Safety Committee released a report detailing a number of First Amendment concerns with the bill. Later on Monday, Sen. Jerry Hill withdrew the bill, which was previously scheduled or a hearing on Tuesday. Hill has yet to issue any public statements on his decision to withdraw the bill.
The California Catholic Conference issued a statement celebrating the bill’s withdrawal. “The day before hundreds of Catholics were planning to voice their opposition by attending a hearing in the Capitol, SB 360 was pulled from agenda for tomorrow’s Assembly Public Safety Committee effectively removing it from any further consideration this year,” the group said. The statement also noted that over 125,000 people had contacted government officials to express their disapproval of the bill, according to the Public Safety Committee.
California’s Catholic bishops have done a great deal to oppose the bill and raise awareness of the religious liberty threat it posed. Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron, who has over a million followers on social media, wrote an op-ed expressing his opposition and articulating why the bill would fail to accomplish its desired goal. Oakland Bishop Michael Barber also expressed his frustrations and said, “I will go to jail before I will obey this attack on our religious freedom.” Archbishop José H. Gómez of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said he was “very disappointed” after the bill passed the Senate and that he “would continue to work with our lawmakers in the Assembly.” In short, the Catholic Bishops did a great job mobilizing opposition and ensuring that this bill did not fly under the radar.
But honestly, this is probably a smart political move for the Democrats. If the bill had passed, it would have put the Democrats at odds with tons of Hispanic Catholics, a Democratic demographic that is very prominent in California. The Democrats would have been spending a lot of political capital on a bill that is probably unenforceable, and they could have lost themselves votes in 2020 as a consequence — certainly not enough to make California go for Trump, but possibly enough to make the California state legislature more moderate.
Jerry Hill and the California Democrats may not have withdrawn this bill for the best reasons, but regardless, it’s a win that California Catholics and all advocates of religious freedom should celebrate.
