Washington will not require clergy to report suspected child abuse or neglect learned through confession or privileged conversations, following a legal settlement announced Friday.

The settlement comes after the Catholic bishops of Washington, including Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly, alleged that the state was “targeting the Roman Catholic Church in a brazen act of religious discrimination” after the Legislature adopted a mandatory reporting requirement for members of clergy earlier this year.

“Preventing abuse and upholding the sacred seal of confession are not mutually exclusive — we can and must do both,” Jean Hill, executive director of the Washington State Catholic Conference, said in a statement Friday. “That’s why the Church supported the law’s goal from the beginning and only asked

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