Buildings used by
three California Episcopal parishes that broke away
from the mother church in a dispute over a gay bishop should
be placed under the control of the Los Angeles
diocese, an appeals court ruled.
Relying on church
law, the state's 4th district court of appeal ruled
Monday, ''The right of the general church in this case to
enforce a trust on the local parish property is
clear.''
But the three
judges on the panel made it clear they were staying out of
doctrinal disputes.
''Readers will
look in vain in this opinion for any indication of what
religious controversy may have prompted the
disaffiliation,'' Judge David G. Sills wrote. ''That
controversy is irrelevant to this action.''
The appeals court
reversed lower court rulings in favor of the three
conservative parishes--St. James Church in Newport
Beach, All Saints Church in Long Beach, and St.
David's Church in North Hollywood.
They pulled out
of the six-county Los Angeles diocese and the 2.3
million-member national Episcopal Church in 2004,
following the ordination of a gay bishop in the
diocese of New Hampshire. They announced they were
placing themselves under the jurisdiction of the
Anglican Church in Uganda.
The Los Angeles
diocese sued to gain control of the properties, arguing
that the parishes held their church buildings in trust for
the diocese and the national Episcopal Church and were
not entitled to them.
The churches
argued the diocese's lawsuit to seek control of the
properties interfered with the parishioners' freedom of
speech. The trial judge said the churches had
demonstrated they were being sued for their
disagreement with the church's views concerning the
consecration of homosexual clergy and also ruled that
the local churches owned the property.
Diocese officials
were pleased by the decision.
''Now we can get
about the business of healing and about the business of
being a church. It's been a long ordeal,'' said the Right
Reverend J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the diocese.
Eric Sohlgren,
lead lawyer for the three parishes, said the decision ran
counter to 30 years of legal precedent in California.
''What the court
said here was that if a hierarchical church wants to
take control of local church property, all it has to do is
pass a rule,'' he said.
The parishes will
decide soon whether to appeal to the California supreme
court. (AP)