Did the President of the Southern Baptist Convention Break A Trust with Giuliani?

I have a Update here as to early reaction

The Pink Flamingo sent me a article tonight via email. I have to admit I am pretty shocked by this. The article is titled SBC President Says He Offered to Pray with Giuliani to Accept Christ. Here is an just an excerpt:

The president of the Southern Baptist Convention says he offered to pray with Rudy Giuliani to accept Christ as his savior, but the Republican presidential candidate declined.
Frank Page, pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C., recently told a group of ministers in Oklahoma the biggest surprise of his 16 months leading the nation's largest Protestant body is the contact it brings with politicians.

Page said he has "met with almost all the presidential candidates" and has pledged that his "singular purpose" in those meetings would be to "tell them about Jesus."

"When I spent two solid hours in a private meeting with Rudy Giuliani, I shared Christ with him so much that at the end of that two hours I said, 'Rudy, I'm not going to leave this place unless I give you an opportunity to pray with me to receive Jesus as your savior. Would you do that with me Rudy?'" Page recounted.

"He said, 'No, Frank, I'm not ready to do that. My daddy knows Jesus like that, but I'm not ready for that.'"

Page said he gave the former New York mayor his cell phone number and invited him to call "any time, day or night."

"You just call me, and we'll talk about Jesus, Rudy," Page recalled the conversation. "You're a great leader, Rudy, and you may be the president of our country some day. But you'll never be the leader you need to be unless you have Jesus as the heart of who you are."............

Page's comments were recorded Oct. 7 during a dialogue at a meeting of the Tulsa Metro Association of Baptist Churches. The comments were published Oct. 17 as an audio webcast at the 12 Witnesses blog, produced by Oklahoma pastor Art Rogers.

In June Page told the Associated Press he had already spent time with leaders such as McCain, Giuliani and Mike Huckabee and had spoken on the phone with Mitt Romney.

The AP story described a chat over breakfast between Page and Giuliani, in which the two discussed "everything from the Roman Catholic Mass to evangelical beliefs about accepting Christ."

Page said in June he told Giuliani, "We like you as a person" but also described "an honest dialogue" about "extreme differences" with the candidate's views on abortion and gay rights.

Good Grief. OK let me be clear. I think it is no secret that the ex mayor's relationship with Christ is a subject of much discussion. In fact it is quickly becoming a big issue in Catholic politics. I think that is an area of legitimate discussion among Catholics and other Christians . I have no problem with what the President of the SBC did. In fact I would expect any minister, Catholic or Protestant, whose prime job is bring to God to folks, to do likewise if the opportunity presented itself. Heck I don't care if he discussed the Mass with him(I suspect that the SBC President is not a big fan of the idea).

However it appears to me that Dr. Page is violating Giuliani's trust all over the place. In other words he is violating what is commonly called the Priest/Penitent privilege. That is very troubling. Now it is true that Dr Page is under no legal obligation not to run his mouth. However he is under a ethical and moral one. In fact if in a civil suit a lawyer tried to introduce what was said by Giuliani in this meeting , Giuliani could have that suppressed in many jurisdictions. In Louisiana for instance:
First, it must be determined that the person to whom the communication was
received is a “clergyman.”

Second, it must be determined that the purpose of the
communication was to seek spiritual advice or consolation. .

Third, it must be determined that the communication was made
privately and was not intended for further disclosure except to other persons present
in furtherance of the purpose of the communication.

Finally it must also be determined whether or not the
communicant waived the application of the privilege.

I think from reading the article that this fits the scenario. By Dr Page's admission it was a " private meeting" and it appears that private things were shared. This went from the realm of the political to the personal and spiritual it appears. I am also willing to bet that Giuliani thought this was private also.
The issue presented to me in this article is not the issue of Giuliani's soul. As a Catholic I have my own thoughts on that. It is a issue of a clergyman violating a trust. It is also an issue of how Church leadership in the public square will be perceived. I think this puts it in a bad light. Dr Page is either using private conversations for political gain and advantage or is guilty of big time name dropping as a form of bragging in front of his peers.. I personally suspect the latter more than the former.

I am sure that Governor Huckabee being a "Baptist Minister" will be asked about this. Hopefully this will not develop into a series of stereotypical preacher running for President questions. Hopefully Huckabee will remind the press he is running for the President of the United States not the President of the Southern Baptist Convention.

There is a scandal here but the scandal is not on Giuliani but on the President of the SBC. I admit I prefer "believers" in office. However I also want our leaders to feel that they can consult our religious leaders either on personal matters or political matters and have trust it is indeed private. I suspect the real sin here is Pride.