Editorial: Religious freedom is at stake

Thursday, March 6, 2003 | 8:57 a.m.

For most of us living in the United States it has always been a given that government has some jurisdiction over religious groups. It may set rules for how far back their places of worship must be from the street or how high their steeples may rise. It can enforce building and fire codes. It can move against a church or religious order if there are threats to public safety, such as posed by an arsenal, or violations of law, such as abuse of children, allowing multiple spouses or sacrificing animals. In our view it's in the best interest of the country for the government to maintain this type of limited authority, which ensures order and protection for all citizens.

A bill introduced in the Nevada Legislature this week by Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, however, would extend the reach of government way beyond where it has any business. It would require clergymen to report child abuse to law enforcement, even if they learned of it during confession. An existing state law requires such reporting, but exempts clergymen who "acquired the knowledge of the abuse or neglect from the offender during a confession."

Most denominations regard counseling sessions that take place between pastor and parishioner as not only confidential, but fundamental to their manner of worship. In such sessions the parishioner could "confess" to having committed child abuse. In the Catholic Church, confession is believed to be the path to forgiveness from God and is one of seven sacraments, which also include communion, matrimony, and baptism. It's called the "seal of confession," meaning that whatever is confessed is sealed between penitent, priest and God. The sanctity of the confessional is so ingrained within the Catholic religion that priests who violate it face excommunication. The law has always respected this confidentiality.

Removing the exemption for confessions, as Titus' bill would do, would allow the government to intrude into a religion's manner of worship, something we see as a grave violation of the First Amendment. Any breach of confidence must be left up to the conscience of the individual clergyman, not the force of law. As much as we abhor child abuse and wish to see perpetrators apprehended, we cannot condone what amounts to serious erosion of religious freedom. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that religion, including school prayers, must not intrude into government functions. Conversely, the government must not intrude into accepted tenets of religion.