PHOENIX — Religious institutions are entitled to decide when their doctrine require them to keep secret a confession made by a congregant about child abuse and cannot be second guessed by judges, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
And the religious institutions — and not some court — also get to decide who beyond the actual members of the “clergy” are exempt from reporting requirements, the justices concluded.
All that most immediately means the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and two of its bishops do not have to stand trial for failing to tell authorities that a Bisbee man was sexually abusing his young children.
