Novickas v. Krauczunas

Citations

• 240 Pa. 248
• 87 A. 686
• 1913 Pa. LEXIS 657

Syllabus

<p>Church law — Title to property — Act of April 26, 1855, P. L. 828 —Circumvention of court’s decree — Equitable relief — Standing of plaintiffs.</p> <p>Where the Supreme Court has directed a reconveyance of church property from a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church, in whom by church law it should vest, and to whom it had been conveyed for a temporary purpose, to trustees for the congregation on the ground that under the Act of April 26, 1855, P. L. 328, the title was in the congregation, and subsequently has refused to order a legal conveyance of the property to the bishop, as trustee, to be held by him in accordance with the laws of the Catholic Church, although a resolution directing such conveyance had been adopted by the congregation, on the ground that this would be in violation of the law of Pennsylvania, and thereafter an episcopal decree was issued by the bishop of the diocese, which after reciting “that the court has decided that the Catholic bishop of Scranton must hand over to a band of excommunicated apostates the deed of the Catholic Church of St. Joseph’s,” and placed said church “under interdict until the members of the congregation shall turn these faithless men out and place the church once more under the care of the Bishop of Scranton according to the laws of ■the Catholic Church,” and forbade Catholics to enter the ■church or services to be held therein until the removal of the interdict, this can only be deemed an effort to circumvent the decision of the court. Where, therefore, certain of the congregation, who bave obeyed the order of the bishop, and refrained from entering the church, seek by bill in equity to restrain other members of the congregation from permitting certain ministers or pastors, not regularly ordained priests of the Catholic Church in good standing, to officiate and conduct worship in said St. Joseph’s Church, and to restrain said ministers and pastors from so conducting worship, the bill will be dismissed. As the plain pu