First Fridays with Leadership Roundtable

We'll be taking a summer break from our First Fridays and In the Field newsletters for the month of July. We'll see you again in August!

On this First Friday — the namesake of our newsletter — we take a moment to recognize the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, traditionally celebrated on the Friday after the Corpus Christi octave. This year, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart falls on June 27.

I. Up First: Washington State Law Challenges the Seal of Confession

II. News and Noteworthy:

Missionary Labs Aim to Revitalize Youth Leadership and Ministry
Latest CARA Report Reveals New Insights into Declining Clergy Rates, Ordination Demographics, and Diocesan Financial Transparency
10 years of Laudato Si’: Applying the Lessons Beyond the Care of Creation
National Educational Choice Advances, Religious Charter Schools Stalls

III. Lessons from the Toolbox: The Ministry of Fundraising

Washington State Law Challenges the Seal of Confession

Washington State recently passed a controversial law requiring clergy to report suspected child abuse — even if that information is disclosed during the Sacrament of Confession. The legislation removes clergy-penitent privilege in these cases, making Washington the first U.S. state to explicitly attempt to override the sacramental seal.

While the law aims to strengthen protections for vulnerable children, it has sparked a profound debate over religious liberty, with the Catholic bishops of Washington filing suit against the state, arguing that the law violates the First Amendment’s protection of free exercise, as well as the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, and the Washington Constitution.

The tension between society’s moral obligation to protect the vulnerable and the Church’s sacred duty to preserve the seal of confession presents a complex legal and ethical challenge — one that cuts to the core of both civil law and Church doctrine (Canon Law 983 §1).

However, the issue also cuts to the heart of the ongoing work the Church needs to do to rebuild trust in the wake of the widespread abuse and cover-up that was first revealed in 2002. Over the past two decades, the Church has established sweeping policies to protect the vulnerable from abuse — requirements that ensure credibly accused priests are removed from ministry and that all cases of abuse are reported to authorities. With the exception of knowledge obtained through confession, many dioceses require clergy to be “mandatory reporters,” which means that most priests are legally required to report suspected abuse or neglect.

In a statement released on May 4, Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne emphasized the Church’s commitment for the last several decades to protecting vulnerable persons by reporting abuse to authorities.

“The Catholic Church agrees with the goal of protecting children and preventing child abuse. The Archdiocese of Seattle remains committed to reporting child sexual abuse, working with victim survivors towards healing and protecting all minors and vulnerable people.”

He went on to note that the diocese’s policies already require priests to be mandatory reporters, so long as that information is not obtained during confession.

“The Catholic Church in the U.S. has been committed to preventing sexual abuse for many decades, reporting incidents of abuse to law enforcement and cooperating with civil authorities. In the Archdiocese of Seattle such efforts began in 1986,” he said. “While we remain committed to protecting minors and all vulnerable people from abuse, priests cannot comply with this law if the knowledge of abuse is obtained during the Sacrament of Reconciliation.”

Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane, Washington affirmed Catholic teaching in a statement saying, “I want to assure you that your shepherds, bishop and priests, are committed to keeping the seal of confession – even to the point of going to jail.”

Still, the protection of the seal of confession when crimes are confessed is not without precedent. In 1996, Father Timothy Mockaitis of the Archdiocese of Portland was called to hear the confession of an inmate at a county jail, where unbeknownst to him, law enforcement secretly recorded the confession. The priest and the archdiocese sued, arguing the recording was a serious violation of constitutional and religious rights, and the court ultimately agreed, ruling that the clandestine taping of a sacramental confession violated both the First Amendment’s protection of religious freedom, the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Washington’s new law has triggered similar legal and constitutional questions, and a federal civil rights investigation is also underway to determine whether the statute infringes on First Amendment protections of religious freedom.

Go Deeper:

Washington bishops sue over law forcing priests to violate seal of confession . Catholic News Agency. May 2025.

Washington law requires priests to break seal of confession. Aleteia. May 2025.

Forcing clergy to break the seal of confession harms victims. OSV News. May 2025.

Civil rights probe launched over state abuse reporting law’s lack of Catholic confession protections . OSV News. May 2025.

Morales v. Portuondo: Has the Seal of the Confessional Sprung a Leak? The Catholic Lawyer. 2002.

Students at the 2025 ESTEEM Capstone Conference

Missionary Labs Aim to Revitalize Youth Leadership and Ministry

Often, before even receiving the sacrament of confirmation, young people are opting to leave the Catholic Church. In fact, a 2018 study showed that the median age for disaffiliation from the Catholic Church was 13. Josh Packard, co-founder of Future of Faith and former head of Springtide Research who has spent years studying Catholic disaffiliation, Mass attendance, and financial giving of young people, noted during the 2024 Catholic Partnership Summit that research overwhelmingly shows that while affiliation and attendance have declined among young people, personal and participatory prayer and spirituality are still stable parts of young people’s lives, and that service is something young people today care about deeply.

As leaders grapple with how to retain and engage young people in the faith, Catholic organizations and dioceses across the country have begun testing innovative ways to use service and mission to curb disaffiliation before those crucial teenage/young adult years.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is launching a new initiative this summer aimed at equipping young people with the leadership, service, and missionary skills needed to respond to the most glaring needs of their communities. This Archdiocesan Youth Missionary Protagonism Lab (AYMP Lab) will gather 10 small teams of young people, mentored by adults from their parishes and communities, who will design and implement a community service project. The youth will partake in missionary discipleship training, synodal-style team building, a retreat, and liturgy.

This program was inspired in part by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Youth Co-leadership Protagonism Initiative (YCOPI), which aims to institute youth-led parish service and justice programs. A similar summer program called WorkCamp has been running in the Diocese of Arlington for over 35 years. WorkCamp brings together more than 1,200 volunteers, more than half of whom are teens, for one week to perform community service projects across the diocese that make homes warmer, safer, and drier for individuals and seniors in need. The combined value of the work performed is estimated at more than $1.5 million annually.

Historically, the Church’s service to those in need was a key means of evangelization, reaching people who otherwise may not have come to the faith, but turned to it in a time of struggle. Today, studies have shown that, for many young adults, service and the Church’s work around Catholic Social Teaching are key touchpoints that engage them in the faith or with a parish community, less so as recipients and more so as those who offer it. Young people today overwhelmingly have a heart for service, and Church leaders grappling with how to fully form youth and young adults in the faith can look to these examples for avenues to what reaches their hearts.

Service is just one aspect of the Catholic faith that is drawing new believers. We shared in our May newsletter how across the U.S. and the world, the Catholic Church saw some record numbers of adults confirmed this Easter. A recent investigation by The Free Press sought to understand what drew converts to the faith. While each person’s journey to the faith is personal and individual, those interviewed cited a mix of being invited or introduced to the faith by a friend or significant other, to encountering the faith through online influencers, to the “smells and bells” of the Mass drawing them in and leading to a profound encounter with God.

Go Deeper:

Baltimore Archdiocese to launch missionary ‘lab’ program to draw young people. Catholic News Agency. May 2025.

U.S. Dioceses Lower Confirmation Age in Effort to Curb Disaffiliation. Leadership Roundtable. April 2025.

Trusting youth to lead. Faith & Leadership. May 2025.

Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley, OFM Cap., Cardinal Christophe Pierre, and Deacon Patrick Stokely at the 2024 Catholic Partnership Summit

Latest CARA Report Reveals New Insights into Declining Clergy Rates, Ordination Demographics, and Diocesan Financial Transparency

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University recently released its Spring 2025 report, which highlights new research about numerous issues facing the U.S. Catholic Church.

Some highlights of the report include:

Work to involve youth and young adults in the Church continues to give our U.S. bishops hope. Building upon the 2016 survey of bishops’ perceptions, the 2022 survey results show that bishops continue to hold hope for the future, particularly around young people, but they also remain concerned with the current rates of disaffiliation and secularism.
In 2024, 194 men and women (not including diocesan priests) professed perpetual vows, the highest number in 6 years. Of those who took the vows, 92% have been Catholic since birth, and 31% have a relative who is a priest or religious, showing that family remains a leading influence in religious vocations.
Due to rapidly declining clergy rates, the U.S. is relying heavily on foreign-born priests and religious to sustain its parishes. In fact, 90% of dioceses rely on foreign-born religious workers in some capacity, whether it be ordained clergy, religious, or laity.
Financial transparency is key to restoring trust in the Catholic Church and its leaders, especially in response to clerical sexual and financial abuse. Voice of the Faithful (VOTF)’s annual review of U.S. dioceses’ financial transparency, as demonstrated on their public websites, showed that while many dioceses around the country have improved or maintained their public financial transparency, some still do not display information for Catholics to help them understand how their dioceses use their donations.

The full report can be purchased on CARA’s website or on Substack.

Go Deeper:

The CARA Report. Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.

Study: Personal encouragement, Eucharistic adoration key to 2025 priestly vocations. OSV News. April 2025.

Over 400 men in U.S. to be ordained in 2025; most felt called to priesthood by age 16. Catholic News Agency. April 2025.

10 years of Laudato Si': Applying the Lessons Beyond the Care of Creation

May 24 marked the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si',” a landmark document that has served as a lighthouse for Christians across the world concerned about the earth and the impact of humankind on our common home. While “Laudato Si’” focused on the care for the earth, its overarching message touches on several themes that leaders can apply to more than just environmental care:

Every cause has an effect. "Laudato Si'" makes clear that all of our actions have consequences, and if that effect is not immediate, we can be tempted to ignore it. Questioning not just the immediate, but also the long-term, impact of decisions is part of our call as leaders to be good stewards of that with which we are entrusted, whether it’s the earth or a ministry.

Take responsibility. Just as we must consider the consequences when making decisions, leaders must also take responsibility and accountability for what results from their decisions, both good and ill. Servant leaders must humbly admit to mistakes and take actions to reconcile, just as much as they celebrate wins. In this way, they can work to create the culture of accountability and transparency that we have been called to build in the Church.

Recognize inequality. It can be all too easy to ignore long-term effects of decisions when our day-to-day lives aren’t affected. However, leadership decisions affect people in differing ways, and leaders should remain aware of when and how actions will impact some more than others. Synodality offers a path for leaders to listen to a broad and diverse representation of stakeholders when making decisions, particularly difficult decisions, to ensure they are fully aware of the effects both now and in the future.

We are not God. Our lives, our roles, and all creation are a gift from God, for which we cannot take credit. God entrusted humans with leadership of his Church, much as he entrusted us with the care and stewardship of our common home. As such, he calls leaders to steward the Church in a similar way, humbly, with recognition of his grace and generosity.

Go Deeper:

Laudato Si’. Pope Francis. May 2015.

Laudato Si’ Movement

Laudato Si’ Week 2025

National Educational Choice Advances, Religious Charter Schools Stalls

In early May, we shared about the Supreme Court case that would determine whether public religious charter schools could constitutionally exist, and the questions that raises for Catholic leaders working to create sustainable systems. In late May, the high court deadlocked 4-4 in the case of the nation’s first Catholic charter school, St. Isidore of Seville in Oklahoma.

Effectively, that means the lower court ruling to shutter St. Isidore will stand. However, it also means that the Supreme Court didn’t rule one way or another on the constitutional issue at hand: whether the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prevents the existence of public religious charter schools, or the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment allows them to operate. By not reaching a consensus, the justices left the issue undecided, and the door open for another state to establish a religious charter school.

While the Supreme Court deadlocked on religious charter schools, the House of Representatives advanced a version of the Education Choice for Children Act, a $5 billion Federal tax credit program that would expand school choice nationwide. Specifically, individuals could receive a credit on their Federal tax bill of up to $5,000 for donations made to scholarship-granting organizations that offer privately-funded scholarships to attend private or parochial schools, or to cover related educational expenses.

The ECCA was included in the budget reconciliation bill, which is now in the hands of the Senate.

Go Deeper:

Supreme Court blocks Catholic public charter school. National Catholic Repoter. May 2025.

Isidore v. Drummond. USCCB. March 2025.

H.R.833 - Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025. Congress. January 2025.

The Ministry of Fundraising

For mission-driven leaders, the idea of “fundraising” often conjures up all manner of worries and negative thoughts. This vital yet often misunderstood function of supporting the work of the Church can feel like a chore — an obligation adjacent to ministry rather than an essential expression of it. For others, it’s what keeps them up at night as they grapple with the sustainability of their ministry or organization.

Yet, if Catholic leaders could flip the way they see fundraising — from a tactical means of collecting money to support their mission, to a spiritual act of building community, living their ministry, and communicating openly — our institutions would be stronger, more connected, and more sustainable. As our former Executive Partner and now President and CEO of Catholic Charities, Kerry Robinson, wrote in Chapter 8 of “A Pastor’s Toolbox Vol. 1”: “the activity of fundraising is not a distraction or a contradiction to ministry but should be seen as an effective and profound ministry in itself.”

That is to say: Fundraising is not merely about asking for money; it is a ministry of invitation, a means of celebrating mission, and a strategy for building and renewing the ties that bind.

Here are several ways to reframe how you think about fundraising and recharge your efforts:

Fundraising is Community Building. Effective fundraising stems from the belief that people give to that which they feel connected. When people experience belonging—when they feel they are part of something meaningful — they naturally want to support and sustain it.

Fundraising is Ministry. Henry Nouwen wrote, “Fundraising is, first and foremost, a form of ministry. It is a way of announcing our vision and inviting other people into our mission.” Catholic institutions must lead with their purpose, their “why.” So whether hosting a capital campaign or drafting a grant proposal, the most effective fundraising is rooted in a clearly articulated mission, vision, and purpose.

Fundraising Requires Trust. Effective fundraising is built on a strong foundation of trust, which requires financial transparency and effective, mission-driven communication. Declines in giving have corresponded not just with declines in Church participation, but declines in trust. Therefore, to lay the foundation of effective fundraising, leaders should consider publishing financials and communicating clearly where money will be spent and why it is needed.

This advice is backed by research that shows 40% of Catholic parishioners believe donations should be withheld until financial decision-making becomes more accountable. Organizations and parishes that communicate transparently where and how donations are used, are significantly more likely to see increased and sustained giving. When donors believe their money will be stewarded well and ethically invested in alignment with Church teachings, they are more inclined to give.