Content about Supreme Court

Dr. Todd Morris tells us about a plaque in an old English Church that reads, “In the year 1653 when all things sacred throughout the land were demolished or profaned, Sir Robert Shirley built this church, whose singular praise is this, to have done the best of things in the worst of times.” Remember that it was at a time when Anglican churches were being closed and Presbyterians were being harassed and persecuted. Yet in the midst of that…in the worst of times, Sir Robert Shirley did the best of things…he built a church! My brothers and sisters in Christ, it has fallen to us, to you and me, to do the best of things in this hour. It is for us to build our diocese and our parish churches.

The Supreme Court of Virginia has directed The Falls Church to present oral argument to a writ panel on 16 October 2012 in support of its petition to throw out a lower court decision turning over its property to the Diocese of Virginia. 

In a 25 September 2012 statement, Henry Burt, secretary of the Diocese of Virginia said The Falls Church attorneys will be given ten minutes of oral argument to “persuade the Court to hear their appeal on the merits. The Supreme Court will decide whether it will hear the case in a few weeks after the hearing. If the appeal is accepted for argument, it is likely to be heard in the first half of next year.”

Seven bishops have been charged with misconduct for having endorsed a friend of the court brief prepared by the Anglican Communion Institute in the Diocese of Fort Worth case.

On 28 June 2012, the Rt Rev Maurice M. Benitez, retired Bishop of Texas, the Rt Rev John W. Howe, retired Bishop of Central Florida, the Rt Rev Paul E. Lambert. Suffragan Bishop of Dallas, the Rt Rev William H. Love, Bishop of Albany, the Rt Rev D. Bruce MacPherson, Bishop of Western Louisiana, the Rt Rev Daniel H. Martins, Bishop of Springfield, and the Rt. Rev. James M. Stanton, Bishop of Dallas were informed they had been charged with misconduct.

In a ruling handed down last week the Karnataka High Court held that the transfer of properties — including 50 church buildings — in 1972 from a property trust created by the United Basel Mission Church in India (UBMC) to the Church of South India (CSI) Trust Association following the merger of the two denominations is void.

The court ordered the CSI Trust to turn over the former UBMC properties to trustees appointed by the court and to provide an accounting of net income generated from the properties since their purported transfer in 1972.

If the ruling is upheld on appeal to the Indian Supreme Court, it could strip the CSI Diocese of Southern Karnataka of the bulk of its properties. However, as the case has taken 43 years to reach this stage, a final disposition is not expected soon due to India’s clogged civil court system.