U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 1984

Lillian Kral v. Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis of the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · Decided October 17, 1984 · Arnold, Fagg, Bowman

746 F.2d 450; 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 17643 (Federal Reporter, Second Series)

Counsel

Donald J. Harman, La Crosse, Wis., for appellant., Donald M. Jardine, Gerald M. Linnihan and Graham Heikes, Jardine, Logan & O’Brien, St. Paul, Minn., for appellee.

Cases that cite this one

9 later published cases cite this decision.

McRaney v. The North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Inc. (District Court, N.D. Mississippi 2023)
Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Santa and Associated Case in US District Court (United States Bankruptcy Court, D. New Mexico 2021)
McRaney v. The North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Inc. (District Court, N.D. Mississippi 2019)
McRaney v. N. Am. Mission Bd. of the S. Baptist Convention, Inc. (District Court, N.D. Mississippi 2018)
Taylor v. Paradise Missionary Baptist Church (Ala. 2017)
King v. Tatum (Ala. 2015)
Ginyard v. Church of God in Christ Kentucky First Jurisdiction, Inc. (District Court, W.D. Kentucky 2014)
Concerned Members of Old Elam Baptist Church v. Board of Trustees (Ala. 2007)
Lott v. Eastern Shore Christian Center (Ala. 2005)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal from the District Court’s 1 dismissal of a complaint alleging that the defendant, an order of sisters in the Roman Catholic Church, had wrongfully expelled the plaintiff from membership. We affirm.

The theory of the complaint is that the plaintiff was mentally ill at the time of her expulsion, and that canon law prohibits expulsion in this situation. Plaintiff’s case was considered by the highest church court of competent jurisdiction before her expulsion took place, and that court found that she was not mentally ill. Whatever the merits of that finding as a matter of fact, it is not within our province to review it. A claim of violation of the law of a hierarchical church, once rejected by the church’s judicial authorities, is not subject to revision in the secular courts. See, e.g., Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich, 426 U.S. 696, 712, 96 S.Ct, 2372, 2381, 49 L.Ed.2d 151 (1976).

We are in substantial agreement with the District Court’s well-reasoned opinion. See 8th Cir.R. 14.

. The Hon. Edward J. Devitt, Senior United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.