Appellate Court Will Decide If Clergymembers Must Testify about Crime
By Lisa Roose-Church
Should a priest have to testify about a crime that a parishioner disclosed during confession? The Michigan Court of Appeals will consider that issue Thursday when it hears oral arguments in the Wayne County case of Samuel Dale Bragg, now 18, whom prosecutors allege confessed to his pastor that he sexually assaulted a female cousin when he was 15 years old. The case is expected to set precedent on the issue statewide. "This kind of decision would have a chilling effect on any kind of religion," Bragg's attorney, Raymond Cassar, said. "I don't think the Court of Appeals should tamper with this." Michael Diebold, director of communications for the Diocese of Lansing, agreed, saying congregation members know they can admit their sins in confession — known as the Sacrament of Reconciliation — and be forgiven in confidence. However, to add a comma to that sentence and add "unless your confession is a Class A misdemeanor or felony," would "taint the entire sacrament," Diebold said. "This is part of our religion that we practice freely under the Constitution of the United States," he noted. "I can't imagine a court would decide we need to violate our religious practice. It's an infringement on our religious freedom." Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and Assistant Prosecutor Angela Povilaitis declined to comment, but they did provide their brief in which they argue the priest-penitent privilege does not apply because Bragg did not seek out his pastor for "priestly consultation and guidance." Rather, the state argued, the pastor, the Rev. John Vaprezsan, called Bragg into his office to "interrogate him" about the allegations. Vaprezsan, pastor at Metro Baptist Church in Belleville, declined to comment due to the ongoing criminal case. The allegations Although he was 15 when the alleged assault occurred, Bragg is charged as an adult with first-degree criminal sexual conduct for molesting a then-9-year-old female cousin. In March, the cousin was 13 when she testified at a preliminary examination in 34th District Court in Romulus that her cousin "raped" her when she was 9 years old. She claimed the assaults occurred during a three-day period when she spent time with Bragg's family at their home in Belleville because her parents were out of town, according to court documents. The cousin also testified that she told her mother about the assault in 2009, after attending a youth-group session where members were instructed on purity. The next day, the girl and her parents spoke with police and their pastor, Vaprezsan. At the hearing, the prosecutor's office also called Vaprezsan, who is also the pastor for the Bragg family, to the stand to testify. Cassar objected to the pastor testifying, but the District Court judge allowed the testimony after ruling the conversation between Bragg and Vaprezsan was "not done for religious reasons," according to the prosecutor's court brief. Vaprezsan testified that he called Bragg and his mother, who is Vaprezsan's secretary, to his office and asked him if his cousin's allegations were true. Vaprezsan said Bragg initially denied the allegations, but then "broke down, began to cry, and admitted to him that the allegations were true," the prosecutor's office argued. Vaprezsan said he, the defendant and the defendant's mother then prayed together. Cassar said Bragg and his mother have repeatedly said Bragg did not confess to the alleged crimes in his conversation with the pastor, and that they considered any conversation with their pastor confidential. On cross-examination, Vaprezsan said he thought it was a private matter and only told the victim's family that Bragg admitted the assault. He said he was later contacted by the Belleville Police Department and gave a written statement about his meeting with the defendant. Vaprezsan said he spoke with the defendant as a "loving, broken-hearted pastor," according to court documents. He also testified that telling the victim and police about his conversation with Bragg did not violate the Baptist Doctrine because the meeting was not done solely for the purpose of church discipline, the prosecutor's court brief stated. The sacrament There often can be a struggle for the minister who, under church rule, must keep confessions confidential, but who also has an obligation under the Child Protection Act to report abuse to authorities. The Rev. David Speicher, pastor at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Howell, said the Catholic Church canons are clear — under the seal of confession, he cannot divulge the information. The Sacrament of Reconciliation, commonly known as confession or penance, is one of seven ceremonies that points to what is sacred for Christians, and church law says the seal of confession cannot be broken. "Confession is an absolute," Speicher said. "If someone were to share with me in that reconciliation, and the court told me I had to tell, I would not be able to tell them. "We recognize this is a divine moment between God and the penitent. I don't have the right to take it outside of that," he said. Diebold said to break the Sacrament of Reconciliation can mean automatic excommunication for a priest. "The confidentiality cannot be broken," he agreed. "That's an understanding we all have. If you tell someone a secret, your expectation is that secret won't be revealed." The Rev. Sherry Parker, pastor of First United Methodist Church of Brighton, which does not have confession, said there is a difference between a minister keeping a secret that can be harmful and confidentiality, which allows "free and trusting conversation between two people." "Confidentiality is not a tool to be used to keep things secret," she said. "Confidentiality is a tool to bring justice and reconciliation. ... If someone has been harmed or is going to be harmed, I'm going to tell (the parishioner), 'We need to act on this now.' " No matter what religion, local pastors agreed, it is implied that when someone comes forward for a confession, he or she is ready to bring resolution to the issue, and that can mean notifying authorities in potential criminal matters. Parker said she hopes if the Court of Appeals' decision eliminates the clergy-penitent confidentiality that it will be done with "definite boundaries." "I wouldn't want to be obligated to reveal confidences that don't have any legal bearing, where no one was harmed or being harmed," she said, noting marital issues between a divorcing couple as an example. The appeal Cassar, a Farmington Hills attorney, filed a motion to toss out the pastor's testimony and not send the case to Circuit Court for trial. The court granted the request to exclude the pastor's testimony based on pastor-penitent privilege. However, it ruled the case would still have gone to Circuit Court based on the victim's testimony. Worthy's office is now appealing the decision to toss out the pastor's testimony, which she wants to use at a trial. Cassar, who said he will take a loss in the Court of Appeals to the Michigan Supreme Court, said the Bragg case will make law. If the Court of Appeals rules clergymen can testify about what is revealed in confidentiality, that will undo 1,500 years of tradition, he argued. "(Bragg) had a reasonable expectation ... that what he's telling his pastor is going to remain confidential," Cassar said. "If we can't expect the communication to the clergy to be confidential, ministries of all churches would be ineffective. ... We don't want to carve out exceptions." Contact: lrchurch@gannett.com
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