Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1879-11-06
A PENNSYLVANIA Church Case.

PI,,js PJjtIcs aHu discipline of that Church
- i,oSe - Sea LlSIIs we believe are invaded bv
Che e, decree of the court.
The facts are these: The r C Rist,o,,
"a "a scranton, wrote the following Letter to
'ile parish priest in Williamsport.
KEY. SIR:-Your administre+io,, -
ne ne aHalfs connected with the CbUrcI, oF
S, StlC Ann uilclatlon has been such that T
ioo--a ~ y sen com peiied to remove you and
ieaFe the church vacant. And nov for
old you to exercise any priestly function
III nllllamsport, even to say mass T7big
prohibition binds sub grayi. Won mo-,
call on me at Scranton and I will in for,
gard our re-
The priest brought an action in the
civil court against the Bishop. and tbs
court pronounced his removal 70 he CON
traFy TO the law of the land which boI5s
every man entitled to hearing before he
may be deprived ofhis lawful possessions.
Inc deprivation by the Bishop had emf
on the income of the priest, and therefore
his possessions or property being inter
ieFeu win, the court held itself author
lied to interfere.
Yet it did not go so far as to restore him
to his place. The court held that mas
much as time had elapsed, new priest
had been sent to the parish, and the Deo-
pie were all cOntented with him, it was
not best to disturb the peace by re-instat-
ing the complainant. 1t merely prO-
nounced the removal unlawful and con-
demned the Bishop to pay the costs, From
this decision the Bishop appealed to the
court OF last resort, and that court af-
firmed the decision of the lower eourt.s
1t Is proper that the opinions of inteIli-
gent and unpreiudiced tribunals should
be received with respect and we intend
nothing else when we intimate that the
opinion thus rendered is not consistent
with religious liberty, nor in harmony
with the fundamental idea of American
relations between the Church and the
State. 1t is obvious, instantly, that if the
removal of the priest was illegal, and he
was deprived thereby of his personal
rights, to his material damage he had
the right also of restoration to his lost
place. The court assumes Jurisdiction
only on the ground that his rights of
property have been invaded. Yet the court
| having decided that his rights have been
| invaded, does not decree that those rights
shall be restored TO him. It leaves him as
badly cared for as it found him, and makes
decision that will operate to the sup
port of the Bishop in the future. 1t is as
though a tenant had been elected by a
landlord, and bringing his complaint be-
fore the court, gets decision that he was
Illegally turned out, but as another is now
in, and the family is contented, it is not
best to disturb their peace; the landlord
must pay the costs of the suit and the
WrOnged tenant must stay out of doors,
without even having damages allowed
him. So in this case, we see, if the priest
was WrOngfully removed and the court
had power to interfere in the matter, it
had also the power, and it was bound by
all considerations of justice, to redress
the wrong by reinstating the wrOnged
man into his rights. Otherwise it had no
business to meddle with the matter at all;
which, indeed, is probably the fact.
1 L. I IL
truth that the ecclesiastical authority of
each denomination may be administered
according TO its own ideas of what is for
the interests of the Church and the honor
of God. When the civil power steps in
and says that because priest draws
salary, therefore the civil power has the
right to determine whether or not he has
| been properly inducted or extruded, it is
| an invasion of the religious freedom of
| the Church which ought to be intelli-
! gently but firmly resisted. In this case
| the suffering priest had reasonable ground
| to bring an action for damages; and if it
were possible for him to show that the
| law of the land had been violated by an
! act of the Bishop which deprived him Of
| his property, he was entitled to recover.
A law is no law when the government
| is unable or unwilling to enforce it. And
! what is the use of saying to this priest
/ that he has been unIawfully turned out,
I
| again, and does not wish to put him in ?
/ But suppose the government should at
I tempt to enforce a decree of the court,
restoring to this priest the property of
which he has been illegally deprived.
How would it go to work to do it? Could
it by any means at its command make this
man the pastor of a church from which
he has been elected by ecclesiastical au-
thority? In the Church of England, OF
the Church of Scotland, the adulteFous
| union of State and Church enables the
State to perpetrate such acts, and they
are not crimes. But there is no power il
, anY one or all of the United States to com
: pei bishop OF presbytery or synod oi
f any sort to Ordain or appoint pastor
against its will. It is idle to pronounet
an act illegal when there is neither force
desire or purpose, on the part of the gov
: ernment, to compel obedience or punish
l for refusal to obey.
If the court should go beyond its in,
quiry into the legal rights of the priest
! and ask if his removal was in accordance
D with the laws and uSageS of.the Church
| to which he had vowed obedience, the
court would doubtless find that the Bishop
j. had carefully carried out instruction.
l | which are known to every priest. The
: Bishop has the power to appoint, remove
: or translate the priests in his diocese, at
o his own discretion. He is not obliged Il
| give a hearing or to give his reasons. Ht
exercises his Judgment in the case. HI
may make blunder, and work grea
wrong, and the peculiar hardship OF the
case may justly excite lively sympathy
= but the civil courts have nothing to d.
h with it, unless some action brings up tht
= question of the legality of the Bishop
sentence. In that event the priest is en-
o titled to redress if he has been illegally
= deprived, and it is not enough that tn
T. Bishop be required to pay the costs of tn
suit.
We hope that some one in Pennsylvania
e more ''learned in the law than we are
r will ventilate the subject and set us righ
Il if we are wrong.
The good-natured old German publican
: was leaning his elbows on the long bsl