A.S. Haley on the Virginia Supreme Court Decision

…what will be its effect on the litigants in this case? Simply stated, to require them to spend more time and money in trying the issues of ownership. Significantly, the Virginia Supreme Court’s opinion did not address the arguments which had been made about the validity, under Virginia law, of the trusts which the Dennis Canon’s passage in 1979 attempted to create. At that time, Virginia law did not recognize unincorporated associations (above the level of a local congregation) as having legal standing to hold any beneficial interests in religious property. That law was not changed until 1992. Thus on remand, the Fairfax County Circuit Court will be asked to adhere to its earlier ruling that the enactment of the Dennis Canon was ineffective to create any trust in the parishes’ property in favor of either the Diocese or ECUSA.

At issue in the proceedings on remand will be the language in the church deeds, their articles of association, and the provisions in the diocesan and national canons — some of which evidence the court has already examined in connection with certain issues in the case. ECUSA and the Diocese will be trying once again to prove that the properties were held in trusts whose existence could be implied from the circumstances under which they were acquired and subsequently held. The CANA congregations, on the other hand, will offer evidence to prove that no such implied trusts ever arose.

Thus the Court’s decision today holds little precedential value for the wider issues at stake in litigation in other states between ECUSA, its dioceses, and their parishes. The proceedings in Virginia will drag on for another two years or so, after which there will inevitably be a further request to the Supreme Court to review any decision by the trial court. (In Virginia, review of a trial court’s civil decision is discretionary with the Supreme Court, and not a matter of right.)

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