89. Priesthood, Discipline.—The inferior authority in the Church may be said to be in the priesthood, whose rights and duties are fixed by the canon law, but who are still further subject to the reasonable diocesan rules made by the bishop. The disciplinary relation of a priest to his bishop is substantially the same as that of a captain to his colonel, and implicit obedience in accordance with the discipline of the Church may be strictly enforced by the bishop in so far as it relates to ecclesiastical matters, including doctrine and discipline, in which the priest can not resort to the courts of the State, but must submit to the tribunals of the church.168
90. Congregation, Insubordinate, Discipline.—The male members of a congregation are invested with no visitorial or controling power, but only such authority as is given under the laws of incorporation.169 [pg 065] Where an inferior organization, as a congregation, refuses to receive a clergyman appointed by the bishop, it is an act of insubordination to the ecclesiastical authority of the Church and in violation of its discipline, which authorizes the issuing of a peremptory mandamus commanding them to admit the clergyman.170
91. Pastor, Parish, Relation.—When a clergyman's connection with a church had been duly dissolved, he ceased to be pastor of the church and an arrangement with the parish to retain his relation as pastor of such church was nugatory and void.171
92. Clergymen, Citizens.—Clergymen residing in an incorporated town are not exempt from the performance of any duties required of citizens, unless such exemption is given by statute.172
93. Doctrine and Discipline, Authority.—In all matters concerning doctrine and discipline of the Church, the inferior authority, such as ministers, priests, and deacons, as well as the congregation, must submit to the decision of the higher authority, whether bishop, synod, or council.173
[pg 066]94. Sect, Suit, Property.—A number of people formed a congregation and became incorporated in 1810, the members being mostly of Presbyterian extraction. This independent congregation bought and paid for property, the title vesting in the corporation. In 1811 the congregation passed resolutions unanimously that it “would be imprudent and unscriptural” to establish a new religious sect, and voted to join the First Reformed Dutch Church, which had an organization of inferior and superior authority. The congregation was received into and became a part of the general organization, and remained so until 1860, when a majority of the congregation voted to employ a Methodist minister, and when his name was submitted to the superior authority, the “classis,” he was rejected as not belonging to the church. Then by a majority vote, the congregation seceded and assumed its first name, and thereafter brought suit for the church property. The court held that by joining the First Reformed Dutch Church, the title of the property vested in the congregation of that church as represented by its corporation, and that when the majority seceded and left the church, they had no right nor title to any of the property. And the court laid [pg 067] down the general rule that a majority of a church congregation may direct and control any church matters consistently with the particular and general laws of the organization or denomination to which it belongs, but not in violation of them.174
95. Priest, Salary.—The fact that a bishop who holds the title to all the diocesan property in his own name in trust appoints a priest to the parish or as chaplain to a hospital, does not give the priest a right of action against the bishop personally for his salary. The relation of bishop and priest is not that of employer and employe, but is that of ecclesiastical superior and inferior.175
96. Curate, Induction, Rector.—The jus patronatus of the Spanish law has been abrogated in Louisiana. The wardens of the church can not compel a bishop to institute a curate of their appointment, nor is he in any sense subordinate in his clerical functions to the wardens of any church within his diocese.176 In the absence of a positive rule of the ecclesiastical body, no ceremony of induction is necessary for the rector of a parish.177 A clergyman appointed “permanently” to a rectorship holds it for an indefinite [pg 068] period during the pleasure of the contracting parties, and either of the contracting parties may give the other notice of termination, and with the concurrence of the higher ecclesiastical authority of the diocese, a change may be made.178 It is doubtful, however, whether in most States a permanent appointment would not be construed as a contract for life, determinable only for good cause.179
97. Controversy, Tribunal, Decision.—When the clergyman and his parishioners submit a controversy to an ecclesiastical tribunal, the decision, if not impeached for good cause, is justification in the party conforming to it.180 And a minister who submits to a church tribunal and is ousted after fair hearing and trial, can not obtain a writ of mandamus from the civil court to compel his reinstatement.181 Also, after a minister has been dismissed in due manner by the tribunal of his denomination, the civil court will enjoin him from usurping his office.182
98. Priest, Dwelling, Servant.—A Catholic priest in charge of a congregation at the will of the bishop and occupying a dwelling-house [pg 069] belonging to the church, is a servant and not a tenant, and his right to occupancy ceases with his services.183 The law is different with regard to a Methodist minister who is in charge of his parish by an annual conference and can not be ejected by the congregation or bishop until the next conference, as he has possession of the church property without superior authority.184
99. Injunction, Bishop, Priest, Trial.—On application for an injunction to restrain the bishop from passing a sentence against a priest, the only ground on which a court can exercise jurisdiction is that the threatened action of the bishop will affect the civil rights of the priest.185 A bishop can not remove a priest without an accusation, hearing, or trial, and forbid him to exercise any priestly function where such removal would cut off the priest's income and destroy his means of living in his vocation.186 However, in the same case it was held that a complaint stating that the bishop failed and neglected to assign the plaintiff to the exercise of his office of priest in said diocese to the plaintiff's [pg 070] damage, etc., failed to show that any right of property or civil right was involved and the priest was non-suited, while in the former case an injunction was issued against the bishop.187
100. Confession, Privacy, Authority.—A Catholic priest, although about to administer an office of his religion to a sick person at the latter's request, has no legal authority, by virtue of his priestly character, to forcibly remove from the room a person lawfully there.188
101. Debts, Permission, Presumed.—Notwithstanding a rule or ecclesiastical law of the church that a pastor shall not contract debts in the name or for the sake of the church without the written permission of the bishop, such written permission is not evidence that debts contracted under it are the legal debts of the bishop. The authority which bishops delegate to priests is under the ecclesiastical law and prima facie ecclesiastical authority, and must be presumed to be so in the absence of all evidence to the contrary.189
102. Official Acts, Subscriptions.—The official acts of a minister coming in question incidentally, unless contrary to the statute, [pg 071] are as valid as the official acts of any other officer.190 A clergyman who was engaged to conduct dedication services and was requested by the officers of the local corporation to solicit subscriptions for paying off the indebtedness of the church, but was not appointed agent to receive such subscriptions, had no authority to accept a subscription for the corporation.191
103. Exemptions, Clergy.—The exemptions given ministers by the statutes of some States are liberally construed.192 Without any statutory exemption, the clergy are liable for all duties required of other citizens.193
104. Minister, Contributions, Deposed.—No religious teacher or minister can be enjoined from receiving voluntary contributions, although he has been deposed by some ecclesiastical tribunal.194
105. Fees, Usages, Excess.—The fees of a priest of the Catholic Church are regulated by the laws and usages of that Church, and where in this country the pew rent and collections go for the support of the priest and the current church expenses, a priest is [pg 072] not accountable for the excess of such collections over these expenditures.195
106. Salary, Fees.—Under the act of March, 1814, incorporating a congregation, the congregation, being the legal owners and temporal administrators of the property which it was authorized to hold, had the exclusive power to fix the salary of the parish priest or the tariff of fees for marriages, burial, etc. No such power could be exercised under that act by the Pope or any bishop.196
107. Clergyman, Salary.—Where a clergyman agreed with a congregation that the salary should be what could be raised by subscription, the congregation was bound to use due diligence in procuring subscriptions, and as it did so, that was all that the clergyman could recover.197
108. Curate, Services.—In an action by a curate against a religious corporation for personal services, the court will not inquire into the spiritual relations existing between the parties, but will examine their legal rights only.198
109. Minister, Dismissal, Money Advanced.—After a parish has voted to dismiss [pg 073] the minister, it is not competent to prove irregular conduct or immorality in answer to his claim for salary, without alleging it in the vote of dismissal.199 In Illinois it was held that a priest who advanced money from his private resources for improving church property, had an equitable lien upon the property for all the money advanced, with legal interest.200 But in Pennsylvania, where a priest under the direction of the bishop built a church in his parish for mission purposes, and in doing so expended some of his own money, it was held that in the absence of proof of any rule or custom of the Catholic Church making the payment of such expenses obligatory on the parish, that he could not recover the money so expended from his congregation.201
110. Business, Religious Membership.—Unless there is some other law or rule to the contrary, the male members of the congregation over twenty-one years of age constitute the business membership of a religious society.202 But the question of membership of religious societies or congregations is left to be determined by the rules of the religious denomination to which they belong.203 And where a condition of membership is that the person must contribute to the support of the church and be a communicant, if he is not a communicant he is not entitled to vote.204
111. Regular, Doctrines, Support.—The ones who adhere and submit to the regular order and doctrines of the church, although a minority, constitute the true congregation.205 At least two things must concur to qualify a person as a voter: first, stated attendance [pg 075] at divine worship in the congregation; and, second, contribution to the support of the church.206 The list of members kept by the clerk or secretary of the congregation is evidence of membership.207 A person who denies any part of the system of theology received and taught by the denomination is not a member of the church.208
112. Factions, Authority.—Where two factions of a church, each claiming to be the church, try members of the other faction, a court may determine which of the factions is the authorized authority or that the action taken by either or both of them is nugatory for want of authority.209
113. Faith, Burial.—Whether a person died in the faith of the Roman Catholic Church so as to be entitled to burial in its cemetery, is not a question within the jurisdiction of civil courts, but must be decided by the ecclesiastical authorities.210
114. Rules, Membership.—Every denomination has the right to prescribe by rules, its constitution, or its by-laws, the conditions of membership; and any one who [pg 076] will not subscribe to and practise the doctrines of the denomination is not a member.211
115. Minor.—Where the legal members of a society that is incorporated consist of male members of the church of full age, when minor sons become of age, they become legal members of the corporation, provided they remain in the church.212
116. Officers, Non-Members.—It has been held that a person may be an officer or member of the church corporation or its temporal concerns without being a member of the denomination.213
117. Debts, Unincorporated Parish.—In Connecticut members of an ecclesiastical society formed by voluntary association under the statutes of the State are not individually liable for the debts of such society.214 But where there is no statute on the subject, the members of an unincorporated parish are liable for lawful debts contracted or ratified by them, and their property may be levied on for such debts [pg 077] incurred or judgments rendered while they are members of the society.215 The members of an unincorporated parish may be sued to recover the salary of a deceased pastor up to the time of his death.216
118. Execution, Property.—While an execution against a territorial parish may be levied on the property of a member of the parish, it can not be levied on property of a person who ceased to be a member before the levy.217
119. Incorporated, Subscriptions.—The members of an incorporated poll parish are not individually liable on a judgment and execution against the corporation, excepting on the unpaid subscriptions.218
120. Expelled, Merits.—Mandamus can not be resorted to to restore a member regularly expelled from his church, as a court will not inquire into the merits of the case.219
121. Lay Members, Appointed.—Where the statute provides that two lay members of the corporation of a Catholic parish shall [pg 078] be appointed annually “by the committee of the congregation,” the members of the congregation have no right to elect said two members, and those appointed in the proper manner are lawful officers.220
122. Mother Church, Control.—A majority of the members of a congregation can not by their vote leave the church and transfer the property of the congregation to another church so long as any portion of the congregation remains faithful to the mother church of which such congregation forms a part. Such minority shall retain control of the property.221
123. Seceders, Funds.—Nor can seceders from a religious denomination retain the funds in their hands as trustees on the ground that they were members of the society when the funds accrued.222 The title to church property in a divided congregation is in that part of the congregation which is acting in harmony with its own law; and the ecclesiastical laws and principles which were accepted among them before the dispute began are the standards for determining which party is right.223
[pg 080]124. Society, Foreign Language, Independent.—The formation of a society distinct from the rest of the congregation for the purpose of instruction in a portion of the doctrine of the same church in a foreign language is not a separation from the congregation, although it has its own minister and officers.224 Where an independent congregation of one denomination votes unanimously to go over to another denomination, and the title to the church property is in the parish corporation, the seceders take with them the church property.225
125. Subordinate, Incorporated.—A religious society subordinate to church judicatures, which declares itself independent and becomes incorporated under the general law of the state and subsequently purchases land and takes title in the name of the corporation, holds such land independently of such church judicatures.226
126. “Church,” Seceders, Debt.—Where a religious society amended its constitution as provided therein, those who adhered to the amended constitution constituted the “church,” and those who refused to do so [pg 081] were seceders.227 After seceding, a member of a parish is liable for a debt existing at the time of his secession.228
127. Bible, Constitution, Withdrawal.—A religious organization that takes the Bible as its constitution can not declare a member a seceder who interprets it contrary to the Augsburg Confession of the denomination.229 What amounts to a voluntary withdrawal of members from a religious association, is a question of law.230
128. Majority, Obligation.—The fact that a majority of the members of a religious corporation secede therefrom by a vote, does not affect its obligation entered into prior thereto.231 Two factions of a church separating and keeping up different organizations may both still retain their membership in the denomination.232
129. Division, Funds.—Where there is a division in a denomination by the secession of a part of the members from the mother church, the Legislature has no authority to divide the funds and give a part to the seceding division.233
[pg 082]130. Methodist, Slaveholding, Non-Slaveholding, Quarrel, Schism, Secession.—The division of the Methodist church into distinct organizations of slaveholding and non-slaveholding States, was not a secession and neither division lost its interest in the common property.234 A quarrel in a congregation growing out of an illegal election followed by the majority excluding the minority from the church, is not a schism, and is no ground for a division of the church property.235 The secession of a whole congregation does not carry with it the church property; and those who are left and adhere to the mother church retain control of the property.236 When the seceders from one church join another, they forfeit all claim to any interest held by the former and lose identity with it.237
131. Definitions, Minor.—Excommunication, as construed in law, is the official announcement by the superior authority of the termination of membership in a religious body and the forfeiture of spiritual privileges of the church. It is one of the methods of discipline in the nature of expulsion from membership in a fraternity, and the fact of expulsion from a church is conclusive proof that the person expelled is not a member of such church. Whether the excommunication was wrong or not can not be examined into in the courts of the State, and such expelled member can not maintain a suit in relation to church property nor vote for trustees.238
132. Major Excommunication.—As excommunication non tolerati affects the rights of citizenship, it is not lawful in England nor the United States. To say that A. has been excommunicated in any form, if untrue, is slander.239
[pg 084]133. Vote, Sentence.—When a vote of excommunication from a church has been passed in the Congregational church and the offender thereby declared no longer a member, the sentence may be promulgated by being read in the presence of the congregation by the pastor.240
134. Trustees, Disqualified.—The trustees of a church who have been excommunicated are not thereby disqualified in law to act as trustees.241
135. Devise, Void.—A parent may leave money to a child payable in yearly instalments on condition that said child shall continue to be a member of a particular church and attend the regular meetings thereof, and in case he fail so to do that the bequest be thereupon paid to a missionary society. Such a devise is not contrary to the constitution of the State of Wisconsin and is not void for any other reason.242
136. Fraternity, Excommunicated, Bequest.—Where a church member was also a member of an insurance fraternity connected with his church, the constitution of which required that every member of the fraternity should be and remain a practical [pg 085] Roman Catholic, when he was excommunicated from membership in the church he thereby forfeited his benefit certificate in such fraternity.243 Also, a condition that a bequest shall be forfeited if the legatee should not marry a Protestant wife, the daughter of Protestant parents who have always been Protestants, was held to be valid and not an infringement of any constitutional right.244
137. Action, Expulsion.—An action can not be maintained against the parish corporation for expulsion from the church.245
138. Forfeiture of Membership.—Any member may forfeit his membership in a church.246
139. Insubordination, Expulsion, Hearing.—The authorities in the church, under its rules and discipline, have a right to exclude members in the church, for insubordination.247 If the church has no rules as to expulsion of members, the common law prevails, and a member can not be expelled without due notice and fair hearing.248
[pg 086]140. Injunction, Mandamus, Sepulture.—An injunction will not be granted to prevent the expulsion of a member contrary to the charter and by-laws of the denomination; but if a member be expelled without warrant of law, he has his remedy by mandamus for reinstatement.249 A person who has been expelled can not maintain an action for restoration in order to enjoy the right of sepulture, as it is premature.250
141. Expulsion, Illegal.—The attempt of a minority of a church to expel the majority of the members and turn over the property to another denomination is illegal. However, the same would be true if it were done by the majority.251
142. Freedom, Faith, Doctrine.—The constitution in declaring the freedom of all men to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, does not give a church member the right to repudiate the faith and doctrine on which the church was founded, and at the same time to insist on his right to exercise and enjoy the benefits and privileges of a member of such church.252 Every person joining a church, impliedly, if not expressly, agrees to conform to its rules [pg 087] and to submit to its authority and discipline.253 A person who has been expelled from a religious society can not maintain an action for services rendered the society while he was a member.254