Los Angeles Archdiocese Sued Over Cemetery Lease Termination

AP reported  yesterday that S.E. Funeral Homes of California Inc. has filed a $250 million breach of contract lawsuit in state court in California against the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.  The suit claims that the Archdiocese in 1997 agreed to a 40 year lease of land on or near six cemeteries for S.E. Funeral Homes to operate its funeral services business. The company spent $37 million to build funeral homes, mausoleums and other facilities and pre-sold $190 million worth of services. However in early September the Archdiocese notified the company that it would terminate the leases in a month, claiming that the company was in breach of lease because of a reverse merger with a subsidiary of Service Corp. International. At issue is a clause in the lease that bars "transfer or entrustment of operations" without the consent of the Archdiocese. S.E. Funeral says the Archdiocese is acting in bad faith to seize its lucrative business.

New Mediation Efforts In Milwaukee Archdiocese Bankruptcy Fail

The Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee announced yesterday that its second attempt at mediation with the creditors' committee and abuse victims in its bankruptcy reorganization has failed.  The sticking point is whether some $50 million held by a Cemetery Trust for perpetual care of Archdiocesan cemeteries will be available to Archdiocese creditors.  That issue is currently on appeal to the 7th Circuit after a federal district court held that the Trust asssets were not available to creditors. (See prior posting.)  The Archdiocese has already incurred over $15.4 million in legal fees and expenses in the bankruptcy reorganization.

Supporters of Scottish Independence Promise Protection of Catholic Schools

On Thursday, voters in Scotland will cast ballots on whether Scotland should break away from the United Kingdom and become an independent country. (Background from Wikipedia.) According to yesterday's Herald Scotland, just days ahead of the vote Roseanna Cunningham, the country's Legal Affairs Minister, promised that in the event of independence, parochial schools will be protected.  She said:

A Yes vote means that Scotland will have a written constitution and that means everyone can be assured that the constitution in place on Independence Day will uphold the rights and liberties of all, including freedom of religion and the protection of Catholic education.

In an advertisement yesterday, 100 members of the Catholic community urged a "yes" vote on independence.

New York and Peoria Dioceses In Battle Over Body Of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

A high-profile dispute between the Catholic Archdiocese of Peoria, Illinois and New York's Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan over the body of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen is the focus of a New York Times report today. Sheen was a popular television personality in the 1950's.  Since his death in 1979, his body has been sealed in a crypt in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral.  The Peoria Diocese has been pushing for sainthood for Sheen, and has elaborate plans for a shrine to house his tomb, but Dolan refuses to allow the body to be exhumed.  This has led to a halt in the movement toward canonization.  According to the Times:

The very public tug-of-war over the body of Archbishop Sheen, has shocked many Catholics, in part because it seems like something that belongs in another era.

 “We should have moved out of the 14th century by now,” said Joan Sheen Cunningham of Yonkers, a niece of the archbishop and, at 87, his oldest living relative. “I would have thought so.” She wants the body to remain where it is.

The dispute is unlikely to ever reach the courts because of the refusal of civil courts to intervene in religious matters.

State Antidiscrimination Law Applies To Selection of Members of Catholic High School Basketball Team

In Cardinal Ritter High School, Inc. v. Bullock, (IN App., Sept. 5, 2014), an Indiana Court of Appeals held that the Indiana Civil Rights Law applies to alleged racial discrimination by a Catholic high school in selecting members of its basketball team. The Act, by its terms, applies to discriminatory practices relating to education. The court held that this does not offend the school's free exercise rights. However the court vacated and remanded the case because the administrative law judge who heard the testimony retired, and the findings of fact were written by a different ALJ who never heard the testimony or saw the witnesses in person.

Catholic School Teacher Can Pursue Title VII Claim After Firing For In Vitro Fertilization

In Herx v. Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, (ND IN, Sept. 3, 2014), Emily Herx, a former teacher at a Catholic school, sued under Title VII and the Americans With Disabiliteis Act after the diocese refused to renew her teaching contract because she became pregnant through in vitro fertilization. The Catholic Church considers in vitro fertilization immoral.  The court granted the Diocese's motion to dismiss the ADA claim becuase no jury could reasonably find that she lost her job because of her infertility (her claimed disability).  Instead it was because of her treatment for her disability. The court however refused to dismiss Herx's Title VII sex discrimination claim.  First it concluded that the ministerial exception doctrine did not apply because Herx was not a "minister."  It then went on to hold:

while a jury could find that a gender-neutral rule against in vitro fertilization prompted her nonrenewal, a jury also could find that a male teacher’s contract would have been renewed under the same circumstances.

The Fort Wayne Gazette reports on the decision.

New Website Launched To Cover Catholic Issues

Boston Globe Media Partners on Tuesday announced the launch of a new website devoted to reporting on issues related to the Catholic Church and Catholic lifestyles.  The site, titled Crux, will provide national and international news and analysis of the Church and Catholic practice. A link to Crux has been added to the Religion Clause sidebar under "Resources."

Settlement In Black Mass Lawsuit, But Event Will Go On Using Black Bread

Apparently there has been a settlement of sorts in the lawsuit filed two days ago by the Archbishop of Oklahoma City to obtain return of communion wafers that a Satanic group was going to use in a "Black Mass." (See prior posting.) According to VICE News yesterday, after the court quicly issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting defendant Adam Daniels or anyone under his control from concealing, damaging or destroying the wafers or removing them from the county, Daniels gave the wafers to his lawyer and then agreed to hand them over to the Archdiocese in exchange for the suit being dropped. Daniels said that he had obtained the wafers from a priest in Turkey. Daniels plans to go ahead with the Sept. 21 Black Mass, but will now use the traditional coarse black bread used in Satanic rituals.

Archbishop's Suit Seeks Return of Consecrated Host Taken By Organizers Of Black Mass

The Catholic Archbishop of Oklahoma City filed an unusual lawsuit yesterday in an effort to stop a satanic "Black Mass" ritual scheduled to be held at the Oklahoma City Civic Center on Sept. 21. The complaint (full text) in Coakley v. Daniels, (OK County Dist. Ct., filed 8/20/2014), seeks replevin (recovery of possession) of a Consecrated Host that was wrongfully retained by defendants Adam Daniels and his church, Dakhma of Angra Mainyu Syndicate, for use in their planned Black Mass ceremony. According to the complaint, the Consecrated Host is a wafer "that has undergone the transubstantiation and is now the body and blood of Jesus Christ."  Defendants, it is contended, intend to desecrate the host during the ceremony by corrupting it with sexual fluids and stomping on it. According to CNHI News Service, as well as a statement from the Archbishop, both Catholics and Protestants have criticized the planned mockery of Catholic beliefs and have called for the Civic Center to cancel the event.

9th Circuit: State Can Require Care Workers To Accompany Disabled Clients To Religious Services

In Williams v. State of California, (9th Cir., Aug. 19, 2014), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals adopted the district court's opinion in concluding that the rights of two residential care facilities and their employees were not infringed when, under state law, employees were required to personally accompany a developmentally disabled client to attend Jehovah’s Witness services. The court rejected the argument that this infringed free exercise rights and the establishment clause by requiring Catholic employees to violate their religious beliefs by attending non-Catholic religious services. Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.

Report Focuses On Expensive Homes of U.S. Catholic Archbishops

CNN yesterday published an investigative report titled "The Lavish Homes of American Archbishops." The investigation found that 10 of the 34 active U.S. Catholic archbishops live in buildings worth more than $1 million.

Puerto Rico Supreme Court Upholds Subpoenas Against Church In Part

In Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Puerto Rico-Arecibo v. Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 2014 PR Sup. LEXIS 87 (PR Sup. Ct., July 14, 2014), the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico decided a challenge by the Catholic Church to subpoenas issued to obtain information given to the diocese by victims of clergy sexual abuse.  The opinion and dissents, in Spanish, are summarized by AP in a July 15 article:

The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico has found that a Roman Catholic diocese does not need to share information about alleged sexual abuse by its priests if the victims are adults who wish to maintain their privacy.

The Diocese of Arecibo in northern Puerto Rico had sought to protect the identities of parishioners who made allegations against its priests. The diocese has defrocked six priests over such claims.

The court also states that information that came from private confessions may remain confidential.

In its ruling Monday the court also said the diocese must share information with prosecutors in cases where the alleged victims are younger than 18. In cases involving adults, the diocese must allow the alleged victims to decide whether to share information about the case with prosecutors.

In Kenya, Catholic Bishops Accused of Evicting Restaurant Because It Is Run By Muslims

Standard Digital reported yesterday on a lawsuit filed in Narobi, Kenya against the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops.  The suit alleges that last December plaintiff, the Alyusra Restaurant, signed a 6-year lease on space in a building owned by the bishops' organization, but that the restaurant owner Baakai Maalim was violently ejected and the premises padlocked when the bishops learned that the restaurant was being run by Somali Muslims. Plaintiff's petition contends that the ejection constitutes "a brazen violation of the Constitution by the Catholic bishops who should be at the forefront of preaching religious tolerance...."

Archdiocese Settles Abuse Suit While Denying Its Validity

Last Monday, the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis issued a press release disclosing that it has settled a lawsuit brought by a female plaintiff identified as Jane Doe 92. Doe 92 claimed that she was sexually abused by Joseph Ross, a priest who was removed from the ministry in 2002. In 1988 Ross plead guilty to a misdemeanor stemming from his inappropriate touching of a young boy. The Archdiocese said that Ross is a known abuser and it is not defending him. However it continues to assert that Jane Doe's allegations are false, saying that she:

has been diagnosed, by her own treating doctors, with a medical condition that causes her to falsify claims, exaggerate symptoms and make inconsistent statements. Her own doctors and expert witnesses voiced doubts about her allegations and noted that they contained multiple inconsistencies. 

Diocese Objects To Louisiana Supreme Court Decision On Priest-Penitent Privilege

The Baton Rouge (LA) Advocate reported yesterday on the Louisiana Supreme Court's per curiam opinion and a concurrence in Parents of Minor Child v. Charlet, (LA Sup. Ct., April 4, 2014), a clergy sex-abuse case decided three months ago but only now receiving attention. As summarized by The Advocate:

The case involves a young girl who claims she was sexually abused by a now-deceased church parishioner but that her confession to a local priest fell on deaf ears.

The decision resuscitates a five-year-old lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Church of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, the Rev. Jeff Bayhi and others, and gave the girl, now an older teenager, the green light to testify and introduce evidence of “her own confession.”

At the same time, the state high court sent the case back to 19th Judicial District Court Judge Mike Caldwell, saying there is still a dispute “concerning whether the communications between the child and the priest were confessions per se and whether the priest obtained knowledge outside the confessional that would trigger his duty to report” sexual abuse allegations.

Yesterday the Diocese of Baton Rouge posted a statement (full text) on its website strongly criticizing the Supreme Court's decision. The statement reads in part:

The Supreme Court of Louisiana ... remanded for further proceedings in the District Court to hold a hearing concerning whether or not there was a “confession.” We contend that such a procedure is a clear violation of the Establishment Clause of the U. S. Constitution. The Supreme Court of Louisiana cannot order the District Court to do that which no civil court possibly can—determine what constitutes the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the Catholic Church. Indeed, both state and federal jurisprudence make clear that there is no jurisdiction to adjudicate claims that turn upon such purely religious questions.

Seattle Archdiocese Reaches $12.1 Million Settlement With Abuse Claimants

Reuters reported yesterday that the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle has agreed to settle claims brought by 30 men who were sexually abused 30 to 60 years ago in two diocesan high schools staffed by the Christian Brothers of Ireland teaching order. The lawsuits alleged that the Archdiocese failed to shield the victims from known abusers.  According to a press release from the Archdiocese, the $12.1 million settlement was funded by archdiocesan insurance programs. The Christian Brothers previously reached a $16.5 million settlement with 400 victims.

SCOTUS Securities Law Decision Involves Charitable Fund That Supports Milwaukee Archdiocese

Today the U.S. Supreme Court decided Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc., (S. Ct., June 23, 2014) largely rejecting attempts by a corporate defendant to make securities fraud class actions by investors more difficult to pursue. The corporation was unsuccessful in urging the court to overturn the so-called "fraud on the market" theory that creates a rebuttable presumption that investors relied on public misstatements. The 6-3 decision did give a small concession to defendants, allowing them to present certain rebuttal evidence as the class certification stage. The victory for plaintiffs has implications for the Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Lead plaintiff in the case is a charitable fund that has been an important source of funds-- some $600,000 per year-- for the Archdiocese.  Prior to 2009, the Fund was known as the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Supporting Fund. (See prior posting.) The Milwaukee Archdiocese is in the midst of a bankruptcy reorganization. (See prior posting.)

Malaysia's Top Court Denies Leave To Appeal Ban On Catholic Paper's Use of "Allah"

AstroAwani , MSN News  and AlJazeera all report on today's decision by Malaysia's highest court to refuse leave to appeal in a widely followed religious freedom case.  By a vote of 4-3, Malaysia's Federal Court denied an application by the Catholic Church for leave to appeal a Court of Appeals decision that barred the Catholic newspaper, The Herald, from using the term "Allah" in its Malay language edition to refer to God. (See prior posting.)  "Allah" has been widely used by Christians in Sabah and Sarawak to refer to God. However the government argues that its use in non-Muslim literature may confuse Muslims and lead them to convert.

Court Rejects Claims Against Diocese By Victim of Clergy Sexual Abuse

In John Doe v. Corporation of the Catholic Bishop of Yakima, (ED WA, June 12, 2014), a Washington federal district court  dismissed negligent supervision and negligent infliction of emotional distress claims against the Diocese of Yakima brought by the victim of an incident of sexual abuse perpetrated by a deacon that occurred when the victim was 17 years old. While finding that the suit was not barred by the statute of limitations, the court held that no special relationship existed between the diocese and plaintiff, and the diocese had no reason to believe that the deacon posed a risk of inappropriate sexual conduct. National Catholic Reporter reports on the decision.

Jewish Ancestry of the Late Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor Discovered

The New York Times reported at length yesterday on the newly-discovered Jewish ancestry of the the late Cardinal John Joseph O’Connor.  O'Connor was Cardinal Archbishop of New York for 16 years. It now appears that O'Connor's maternal grandfather was a rabbi, and his mother, who converted to Catholicism in 1908, was born a Jew.  The Cardinal, who apparently never learned of his Jewish roots, was born in 1920 and died in 2000. (Biography.) As Cardinal, O'Connor was strongly supportive of the Jewish community and active in Catholic-Jewish relations.