New Hampshire Supreme Court Upholds Bishop's Right To Sell Church Property

In Berthiaume v. McCormack (Feb. 14, 2006), the New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of a suit brought by members of a Nashua, New Hampshire Catholic parish against the Roman Catholic Bishop of Manchester challenging the proposed sale of St. Francis Xavier church. the court held that, consistent with the First Amendment, it could resolve church property disputes using neutral principles of law. It said it would first consider secular documents such as trusts, deeds, and statutes, and only if those documents left it unclear which party should prevail would it consider religious documents, such as church constitutions and by-laws. It went on to hold that while New Hampshire statues require that parish property must be held for the use and benefit of the parish and its parishioners, the church property at issue does not belong to the parish, but is property held by the Bishop.