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Cert. Petition To Be Filed In Episcopal Church Property Dispute

By Howard M. Friedman

Yesterday, St. James Anglican Church in Newport Beach, CA announced that it will file a petition for certiorari to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the California Supreme Court's decision in the Episcopal Church Cases. In the case, the California high court held that the building and property of St. James Parish belongs to the Episcopal Church, not the parish, once the parish broke away and affiliated with the more conservative Anglican Church of Uganda. (See prior posting.) Apparently the major issue that will be raised by St. James is the validity of California's statutory provision permitting a trust to be imposed on assets of a religious corporation by the governing instruments of a general church of which the corporation is a member. (Cal. Corp. Code Sec. 9142.)

Full post as published by Religion Clause on May 06, 2009 (boomark / email).