The Arizona Supreme Court recently ruled clergy don’t have to report child abuse they learn of during confessions.
The court has now issued another ruling setting definitions for when such confessions are protected under law.
The ruling comes from a case where court documents say Pastor Mario Rodriguez-Ramirez had admitted to sexually abusing his co-pastor’s niece. The co-pastor had recorded the conversation without Rodriguez-Ramirez knowing.
Rodriguez-Ramirez attempted to block the recording and transcript from being used in court, arguing the state’s laws protect information revealed in a church confession.
The state’s Supreme Court ruled the laws would apply only if the conversation was predominately centered around spiritual forgiveness or guidance. Instead, the conversation at hand centered around the pastor’s reputation.
-
The political world is abuzz with the news that we, for the first time ever, officially have two lieutenant governor picks. Republican candidate Andy Biggs chose former state lawmaker and dairy farmer Sine Kerr and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs made a more unconventional choice in picking John Giles, a former Mesa mayor and former Republican. -
The court’s recent ruling allows religious institutions to refrain from disclosing reports of child abuse revealed in spiritual confessions. -
The Arizona Supreme Court sided with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a controversial religious rights case brought by the children of a man who admitted to church leaders to sexually assaulting them for years. -
The court unanimously ruled that religious institutions, not the courts, are entitled to decide when to report confessions of child abuse. -
Bishop James Misko signed onto a letter calling for immigration reform and helped lead a mass on the Arizona-Mexico reporter in Nogales late last week called Border Mass 250.
