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The New York Times
U.S.
Virginia Judge Allows
Case
on Episcopal Property
to Proceed
By NEELA BANERJEE,
nytimes.com on the Web, April 5, 2008
Eleven congregations in Virginia that
broke away from the Episcopal Church have won an initial round in their court
fight to retain church property.
But the final decision remains months away. And the outcome of the lawsuit
could be affected by the Episcopal Church’s constitutional challenge of Virginia
law that deals with the dispensation of church properties after a split.
Like several dozen others around the country, the 11 Virginia congregations
broke with the Episcopal Church over issues of Biblical interpretation and the
2003 ordination of an openly gay man, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New
Hampshire.
The dispute has already led the majority of parishes in the Diocese of San
Joaquin in California to vote to leave the church, and it threatens to rupture
the 77-million-member worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal
Church is the American arm.
Early last year, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia sued the congregations for
the property, arguing that it was held in trust by the congregations for the
Episcopal Church.
In a ruling issued Thursday night, Judge Randy I. Bellows of Fairfax County
Circuit Court found that the 11 congregations could pursue their case under a
Virginia law that determined the division of church property in the case of a
split.
Judge Bellows did not decide who would be awarded the property, which will be
argued in October. But he affirmed the congregations’ position that a
division did occur and that they were now part of another branch of the Anglican
Communion.
“We are pleased with this initial victory today,” said Jim Oakes, vice chairman
of the Anglican District of Virginia, which includes the 11 congregations.
“We have maintained all along that the Episcopal Church and Diocese of Virginia
had no legal right to our property because the Virginia Division Statute says
that the majority of the church is entitled to its property when there is a
division within the denomination.”
The law, passed in the mid-1800s, stemmed from doctrinal disputes in the
Methodist and Presbyterian Churches, Judge Bellows wrote.
The law has been little used since then, because the courts are reluctant to
wade into religious disputes, said Carl W. Tobias, a professor at the University
of Richmond School of Law.
But this case and one before the California Supreme Court regarding the property
of three former Episcopal parishes there indicate a new willingness of some
courts to review these matters, Mr. Tobias said.
“Maybe they are more willing to look at it as a property dispute, rather than as
a religious dispute,” Mr. Tobias said.
The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, however, is set to argue in late May that the
Virginia law on the division of property is unconstitutional, in part because it
interferes with church laws governing property ownership.
In a statement, the Virginia Diocese said: “At issue is the government’s
ability to intrude into the freedom of the Episcopal Church and other churches
to organize and govern themselves according to their faith and doctrine.
We strongly believe that, while we may have theological disagreements within the
Episcopal Church, those disagreements are ours to resolve according to our faith
and governance.”
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