279 N.W. 364 | Minn. | 1938
Plaintiff was organized in 1916 as an unincorporated Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic church and was incorporated as such in 1919. Each group of trustees challenges the validity of the election of the other upon the ground that the meetings at which the respective elections were held were irregular, unauthorized, and illegal under the laws of the church. Plaintiff group admits plaintiff's affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic church and does not challenge the authority of the bishop and other church dignitaries. It admits that plaintiff is subject to the jurisdiction, laws, customs, and usages of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic church in ecclesiastical matters and recognizes the Metropolitan as the head of the church. It asserts that plaintiff is independent in temporal matters. Plaintiff's asserted independence of all authority is said to result from its incorporation under the laws of the state of Minnesota and the adoption by it of by-laws in 1930 for its own government. The defendant group claims that plaintiff is subject to the laws, rules, and usages of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic church, which it urges are in conformity with our statute and under which the by-laws of 1930 are null and void. Both groups admit that plaintiff owns the property involved in this case and that the trustees of plaintiff are entitled to take charge and have possession of such property. The only question is which group are the trustees of plaintiff. The plaintiff group prevailed below.
1. Plaintiff is incorporated under 2 Mason Minn. St. 1927, § 7963 (G. S. 1913, § 6592, as amended by L. 1919, c. 122, § 1). The statute provides that "the stated worshipers with any church" may incorporate by complying with its provisions; that the voters of the *562
church shall elect trustees "to take charge of its property and temporal affairs"; that they shall adopt a name for the church; that they may determine the qualifications of the trustees to be thereafter chosen and "the religious denomination or sect to which the society shall belong." There is no provision in the statute prescribing the form of church government. It does not provide that church corporations created thereunder shall be independent of all other church organizations. On the contrary, the statute in terms without express limitation permits affiliation by church corporations with a general church organization of a denomination or sect. Since affiliation with a general church organization can be only according to the laws and rules of the particular denomination or sect with which such affiliation is had, the statute contemplates an affiliation subject to such laws and rules as a permissible incident. Implicit in such a church organization is the conduct of its business in accordance with its own rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the constitution and law of the land. A statute permitting the incorporation of a church does not, in the absence of specific provision to that effect, take away from the church corporation the power to transact its secular business according to the law, rules, and customs of the particular denomination or sect to which the church belongs. West v. First Presbyterian Church,
"We should adopt, if we can, such a view of the law as will permit religious bodies to be incorporated and yet preserve their original form of church government, instead of revolutionizing it from a hierarchal or synodical into a congregational form."
The cases relied on by the plaintiff group of trustees are not in point. In Russian Orthodox All Saints Church v. Darin,
2. The by-laws of 1930 provide for the election of trustees and the right of plaintiff itself to appoint a priest independent of all church control or authority. These by-laws are assailed upon the grounds, first, that plaintiff never legally adopted them, it being claimed that they were adopted at a meeting of an organization affiliated with plaintiff known as the Russian Brotherhood, and, secondly, that they are illegal and void as being in contravention of the law of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic church. Only the last mentioned ground of invalidity will be considered. A church society may choose whether it will retain its independent congregational character or become a part of a larger church or denominational organization in which its congregational independence is surrendered. Where a local church congregation is a member of a general organization having general rules for the government and conduct of its churches, parishes, adherents, and officers, it becomes subject to such rules and regulations. The voluntary act of joining the general denominational organization subjects the local church to its rules and regulations. 23 R.C.L. p. 423, § 4; Watson v. Jones, 13 Wall. 679,
For the purposes of this rule, it makes no difference whether the governing authority is confided to one man or to a governing body. Bonacum v. Harrington, supra (per Pound, Commissioner). Plaintiff became a member of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic church at its inception and reaffirmed such affiliation in its articles of incorporation. By becoming a parish of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic church plaintiff became subject to its laws, customs, and usages. The Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic church has episcopal government. The highest governing body of the church is the Sobor, which is a convention composed of clergy and laity elected from the various parishes. At the head of the church is an archbishop with the title of Metropolitan of North America, who presides over the archdiocesan council composed of nine bishops representing the bishoprics into which the United States of America is divided for purposes of church organization. It has a body of canon laws, customs, statutes, and usages for its government. These define in detail the powers and duties of all church authorities and the relation of the local parish to the general church organization. The Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic church has adopted certain normal statutes which are binding on all member churches without ratification or approval by them and which they are powerless to reject. They provide that every parish is "subordinate to the local archbishop or bishop"; that the officers of the parish shall be confirmed after election by the bishop, and if the bishop refuses to confirm the one elected, the office shall be vacant and a new election shall be had; that the minutes of all parish meetings shall be confirmed by the bishop before they become effective; and that all by-laws of local parishes inconsistent with the normal statutes and other law of the church are void. The laws of the general church do not permit a member church to withdraw, and they do not recognize such a thing as an independent church. The laws of the general church provide that only the bishop may appoint, remove, or transfer the priest of a local parish. Insofar as the by-laws of 1930 provide that plaintiff shall be independent of the general church *566
in the respects mentioned, they are invalid. The laws of the denominational organization relative to the election of officers by the local church govern. Myers v. First Presbyterian Church,
A congregation or parish of a general ecclesiastical organization does not have the power to declare its independence in violation of its laws, usages, and customs. If the laws, customs, and usages of the general church organization to which a church or parish belongs do not permit it to declare its independence without the consent of the general organization, any attempt of the church or parish to assert its independence is invalid. By becoming a member of the general church the plaintiff surrendered its independence, not at its will, but according to the law of the general church. Kelly v. McIntire,
The by-laws of 1930, insofar as they purport to make plaintiff independent of government and control of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic church, are invalid.
3. The election of the plaintiff group on July 5 did not become effective under the law of the church. The Metropolitan, acting pursuant to church law in the temporary absence of Bishop Leonty of Chicago, who otherwise had jurisdiction in the premises, refused to approve either the election or the minutes of the meeting. In effect he set aside the proceedings had at the meeting of July 5 and ordered a new meeting, which was held on August 9, over which presided his representatives, one Reverend Nedzelnitsky, the dean of the district in which the church is situated, and one Reverend Ristanovich, a priest of the Serbian Orthodox church and the administrator of the Serbian Orthodox churches in this country. The meeting was regularly called and conducted. At this meeting the defendant group of trustees were elected. The minutes of the meeting and the election were confirmed by the bishop. This election was pursuant to the laws of the church. The election of the defendant group having been held in accordance with the laws of the church, the defendant group are the regularly elected trustees of the plaintiff.
4. The church contains within its governmental setup officers to whom an appeal may be taken from any decision of a local parish. Pursuant thereto, both groups invoked the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan as the highest church authority, who took jurisdiction and they submitted their causes to him. The defendant group and some others petitioned the Metropolitan not to confirm the election or approve the meeting of July 5. The plaintiff group petitioned the Metropolitan to let the election of July 5 stand, call off the *568
meeting called for August 9, and to remove Father Davidoff as priest and send them a new priest. On July 7 the Metropolitan declared the meeting of July 5 unlawful and then referred the matter to Reverend Ristanovich and Reverend Nedzelnitsky with directions to hold the meeting held on August 9 and to conduct an investigation of the controversy. Presumably, all the parties were familiar with the law of the church that no meeting or election is effective without the approval of the bishop, that the bishop alone has the power to appoint and remove priests and that his decision on appeal is a final adjudication of matters submitted to him. As a result of the appeal and the submission, the Metropolitan refused to remove the priest, and Bishop Leonty, who had returned, confirmed the election of August 9, thereby making the election of the defendant group effective. Church organizations have the right to establish tribunals to decide questions arising within the organization. The final judgments and decisions of the governing authority of a general church organization having rules for the government and conduct of its adherents, congregations, and officers, as far as they relate exclusively to church affairs and church government, are binding on the local churches and parishes. Courts will review such judgments and decisions only for the purpose of determining their regularity or adherence to the laws and usages of the general organization. This is so not because the law recognizes any authority in such a body to make a decision determining civil rights, but because the parties have made it the "arbiter" of any questions that may arise. East Norway Lake Church v. Halvorson,
The defendants are entitled to judgment.
Reversed and judgment ordered in favor of defendants.
MR. JUSTICE STONE took no part in the consideration or decision of this case. *569