The Pernambuco Court of Appeal (Tribunal de Justiça do Estado de Pernambuco) has stayed a lower court decision giving ownership of church properties in the state to the minority faction loyal to the national Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil (IEAB). The effect of last week’s decision is to return custody of the church properties to the Diocese of Recife and its bishop, the Rt. Rev. Miguel Uchôa, while the court conducts a de novo review of the dispute.
On 31 July 2013 Bishop Uchôa told Anglican Ink the diocese was ready to turn over the properties to the IEAB but on “the 21st the state high court judged our appeal and gave us a positive answer. The state high court judges will now review the case. It means that they accepted [the case for study] and said ”˜no’ to the first judge who had given the [properties] to the IEAB.”
In a conversation that I had with Robinson Calvalcante+ a couple of years before his death, he told me that the property dispute was not as significant to congregational life in Recife as similar disputes might be in the United States, because many, perhaps most, congregations in Recife meet in rented space. I would be curious to know how many parcels of property are involved in the case, and what percentage of Brazilian Anglicans worship in church buildings located on those parcels.