Greek Catholic Church v. Orthodox Greek Church

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Greek Catholic Church v. Orthodox Greek Church, 195 Pa. 425 (Pa. 1900)
46 A. 72; 1900 Pa. LEXIS 660
Dean, Fell, Green, McCollum, Mitchell

Greek Catholic Church v. Orthodox Greek Church

Opinion of the Court

Per, Curiam,

The opinion of the learned court below contains an exposition of this controversy so full and exhaustive and so eminently in accord with the testimony taken on the hearing and with our own decisions, that we adopt it as the opinion of this court and affirm the decree for the reasons and upon the considerations therein expressed.

. Decree affirmed and appeal dismissed at the cost of the appellant.

Reference

Cited By
11 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
Church law—Form of 'worship—Trust—Implied contract—Greek Catholic Church—Orthodox Greek Catholic Russian Church. Wlien a house is created for religious worship and it cannot be discovered what was the nature of the worship intended by it, it must be implied from the usage of the congregation, and it is the duty of the court to administer the trust in such manner as best to establish the usage, considering it a matter of implied contract with the con gregal ion. In a contest over the possession of a church building which had been given in trust to the congregation, it is the duty of the court to decide in favor of those, whether a minority or majority of the congregation who are adhering to the doctrine professed by the congregation and the form of the worship in practice, as also in favor of the government of the church-in operation with which it was connected at the time the trust was declared. In accordance with the request of a number of persons of Slavonic birth, who desired a place of worship, another person of Slavonic birth bought a lot, taking title in his own name as trustee to secure the money which he had paid out for the purchase of the lot. A church was erected on it, and subsequently the representative of the original purchaser conveyed the land to two persons as trustees of the Greek Catholic Church of Wilkes-Barre. At the time of the creation of the trust there were two separate and distinct religious organizations existing among the Slavonic people. One was known as the United Greek Catholic Church, which recognizes the religious supremacy of the pope and the second was known as the Orthodox Greek Catholic Russian Church, which recognized the religious supremacy of the czar. The first two pastors of the church at Wilkes-Barre were members of the United Greek Catholic Church, and conducted the services in accordance with the rules of that organization. The third pastor was when he was installed, a member of the United Greek Catholic Church, but subsequently he and the trustees renounced that organization and filed a petition in the court of common pleas with certain members of the congregation, praying that the church property should be conveyed to the petitioners, and to the bishop of the Orthodox Greek Catholic Russian Church, having jurisdiction over the United States. The prayer of this petition was granted. The evidence showed that a very large proportion of the members of the Wilkes-Barre church at the time of the creation of the trust were members. o.f the United Greek Catholic Church acknowledging the supremacy of the pope. A bill in equity was filed by the adherents of the United Greek Catholic Church to restrain the adherents of the Orthodox Greek Catholic Russian Church from continuing in possession of the church and from interfering in the conduct of the service. Held that the bill should be sustained.