*251.* _Unincorporated, Trustee._—The question whether an unincorporated
religious society may take a gift or devise, is determined by the law of
domicile.(458) Generally an unincorporated religious association can not
hold property in its assumed name, but it must be held by conveyance in
trust to a trustee named.(459)
*252.* _Charter, By-Laws._—When the charter or by-laws of a church
corporation provide that they may be altered, such changes may, after the
execution and delivery of a deed, immediately adhere to the title.(460)
*253.* _Suits, Corporation, Members._—Cases may occur in which the
corporation in its corporate capacity, or the society in its collective
capacity, may be a plaintiff or a defendant in a suit between it and one
or more members of the religious society in their individual capacity or
in their collective capacity, in a quasi-conspiracy or concerning other
torturous acts, or a collective contract.(461)
*254.* _Deed, Court, Title._—A deed made in pursuance of an order of a
court having jurisdiction passes good title.(462)
*255.* _Subscription, Lots._—Any one may convey title to a church as his
part of the subscription by merely marking it on a plat made by him, as
lots donated to such church.(463)
*256.* _Misnomer, Identity._—The misnomer of a religious society or
corporation will not invalidate a mortgage where the identity of the
society can be clearly shown.(464)
*257.* _Adverse Possession, Color of Title._—A religious corporation may
obtain title to land by adverse possession. The length of such possession
is determined by the laws of the State, the usual period being twenty
years.(465) Unless the laws of the State require it, color of title at the
time of asserting adverse possession need not be shown.(466)
*258.* _Sale, Restrictions._—In some States when not restricted by the
laws of the organization the parish corporation may sell the premises in
order to pay the church debts. However, it is not a common law right.(467)
*259.* _Deed._—A deed to “The Evangelical Order of Christians” was
sufficiently definite for a valid conveyance.(468)
*260.* _Error._—A clerical error in the name of the grantee will not make
a deed void. However, when such error has been discovered, it should be
corrected.(469)
*261.* _Mortgage, Bishop, Debts._—The archbishop of a church to which
property is bequeathed, can not mortgage it without authority from the
church or under the law.(470) Also, the bishop of a diocese to whom land
had been conveyed in trust for a particular congregation, could not
execute a valid mortgage thereon to secure his own indebtedness.(471) But
a religious society in the absence of prohibitionary legislation, has
power to mortgage its property to secure its debts.(472)
*262.* _Deed, Trust, Fee._—A deed of land to a Catholic bishop and his
heirs and assigns forever in trust for a Catholic parish for the purpose
of a free burial ground, gave the bishop an estate in fee.(473)
*263.* _Debts, Creditors._—A committee of a religious society authorized
to sell lands to raise money to pay its general debts, is not authorized
to execute a mortgage for the purpose of securing various creditors
holding claims; and the defect in such mortgage is not cured by a vote at
a subsequent meeting to which the committee made a report of its
action.(474)
*264.* _Mortgage or Sale, Notice, Consent._—Whenever there is to be a
mortgage or sale of the church property, if it is to be done by the
corporation, it must be done strictly in accordance with the charter and
laws of the corporation, and if those do not provide therefor, every
member should receive a reasonable notice to attend a meeting of the
congregation and the question should be submitted to such meeting and a
vote taken thereon. If all the proceedings are regular and the proper
officers (president and secretary) of the corporation be authorized to
make a conveyance, it is good in law.(475) However, if the irregular acts
of officers or members of a congregation are subsequently ratified in a
lawful manner, they become binding.(476) When consent of the court is
required, it must be obtained.(477)
*265.* _Title, Taxes, Judicial Notice._—If the title is in the bishop in
fee in accordance with church law it is not “owned by any religious
association” and is liable for taxes. The laws of the Catholic Church are
not the subject of judicial notice, but must be alleged and proved as any
other fact.(478)
*266.* _Title, Diocese, Rule._—Where the title to the property of the
diocese was in the bishop for the use of the church and subsequently the
diocese was incorporated, the bishop was not divested of title and it was
still necessary to have the property conveyed by deed.(479) In some other
States, however, the contrary rule prevails.(480)
*267.* _Priest, Deed, Funds._—Where it was claimed that a priest purchased
lands and took the deed in his own name and paid therefor with funds
belonging to the congregation, the conveyance will not be decreed by the
court only upon the clearest and most satisfactory evidence.(481)
*268.* _Monks, Missions, Title._—The fact that the monks or priests were
at the head of the missions in California when it was acquired by the
United States, does not prove that the Catholic Church had universal
ownership of the property.(482) The acts of Congress giving the city of
San Antonio authority to sell public lands, was intended, no doubt, to
dispose of mission property, but it was held not to affect the Catholic
Church, the title to which had been confirmed by another act of
Congress.(483)
*269.* _Texan Revolution, Land._—At the time of the Texan Revolution, a
Catholic church held no real estate of perfect title, but enjoyed only the
use of the land that it possessed and continued so to occupy after the
admission of Texas into the Union.(484)
*270.* _Priest, Agent, Deed._—The priest in charge of a congregation is
the agent of the archbishop, and where the title to the real estate is
conveyed by absolute deed to the bishop, the congregation, against the
protest of the priest and without obtaining leave from the bishop, has no
right to tear down a church for the purpose of rebuilding or repairing
it.(485) And a priest in charge of mission property may maintain in his
name an action to recover its possession.(486)
*271.* _Devise, Uncertainty._—A devise of property “to the Roman Catholic
Orphans” of a certain diocese, making the bishop of the diocese executor
of the will and giving him power to sell the property and use the proceeds
for the benefit of the Roman Catholic orphans, is void for
uncertainty.(487)
*272.* _Donor, Ambiguous Provision._—The religious convictions of the
donor may be shown for the purpose of construing an ambiguous provision of
a deed or will.(488)
*273.* _Trust, Evidence._—Without any trust being declared in writing,
parol evidence can not be allowed to prove that the Catholic Church and
parsonage is held in trust for the congregation by the bishop of the
diocese, notwithstanding that the moneys for purchasing the lands and
putting up such buildings were collected by subscriptions and
contributions made to the priest in charge under the law, usage, and
polity of the Roman Catholic Church.(489) At common law land may be
granted to pious uses before there is a grantee to take it. In the
meantime, the title is in abeyance.(490) Where the title to parsonage
lands is in the minister as a sole corporation, on his death the title
remains in abeyance until a successor is appointed.(491)
*274.* _Money, Control._—Money raised by a Catholic congregation for the
purpose of building a church does not come under the absolute control of
the bishop or priest, although put into the hands of the latter for safe
keeping. It is subject to the control of the congregation, although the
members of the congregation refused to obey the command of the bishop of
the diocese to consolidate with another church to which the priest was
removed.(492)
*275.* _Church, Building, Removing._—Where subscriptions were secured to
build a church at a particular place as a memorial to a certain person, a
congregation may be enjoined from tearing down the building and removing
it to another place.(493) But a court of equity will not prevent the
removal of a church where a majority of the congregation favors it,
although a legal meeting had not been held to determine the matter.(494)
*276.* _Church, Use, Division._—A church guild that erected a building
adjoining a church for parish purposes, with the assent of the
congregation, can not deny the authority of the church and use the
building for other purposes.(495) But if members are improperly excluded
from the use of the church property they must appeal to the courts for
redress and can not resort to acts of trespass to gain entrance into a
church.(496) A court of equity will compel persons having charge of the
temporalities of a church, whether incorporated or not, to faithfully
perform their trust and to prevent the diversion of the property from its
original purposes. The court will not interfere in strictly religious
matters.(497)
*277.* _Spanish Territory._—When Alabama was a part of Spanish territory,
a deed of land “to His Catholic Majesty for the purpose of building
thereon a parochial church and dwelling-house for the officiating priest,”
the money being paid out of the royal treasury, did not constitute the
King of Spain a trustee for the church or transfer to the church in equity
a title to the lots.(498)
*278.* _Trust, Purposes, Doctrines._—When a conveyance of a lot is made to
certain persons of a religious society and their successors in trust for
religious purposes, all the members become beneficiaries in equal degree
notwithstanding some of them may have contributed larger sums than
others.(499) Land conveyed to a church for valuable consideration belongs
to the church, whatever change may take place in its religious doctrines;
and if a minority secedes on the ground that they are the ones who retain
the original tenets of the church, they can not take with them either the
whole or pro rata share of the church property.(500)
*279.* _Control, Revenues._—The trustees of a corporation of a church or
of a religious society have entire control over the revenues of such
body.(501)
*280.* _Leave to Purchase, Title, Canons of the Church._—A congregation
wanted to buy a church and priest’s house, but the archbishop refused
leave to purchase, but granted permission to keep the premises for
religious purposes for a time. The members formed a society and bought and
took title in the name of the “Lithuanian Benefit Society of St. Anthony.”
Then the archbishop wrote them a letter requiring the deed of the premises
to be put in his name, which the congregation refused to do. A part of the
congregation brought a suit in equity to enforce the transfer from the
society to the archbishop. The court held that if the congregation was
under the church and acknowledged its authority, the title must be settled
by the canons of the church; otherwise, the majority of the congregation,
in a duly called meeting, should determine where the title should be
vested.(502)
*281.* _Cemetery, Authority._—When a congregation that had title to a
cemetery for many years entrusted the management and sale of the lots to
the priest, he had thereby authority to create servitudes, such as alleys
to lots, which become binding on the congregation and all third
persons.(503)
*282.* _Real Estate, Purpose._—A church has no power to acquire and hold
real estate for any purpose other than that of promoting the object of its
creation, and any contract entered into for a purchase of real estate as a
matter of speculation is _ultra vires_ and void.(504)
*283.* _Limitation, Lands._—A statute of the State prohibiting a religious
society from holding more than twenty acres, applies to a single parish or
congregation and not to the entire denomination when it consists of more
than one congregation.(505)
*284.* _Conditions, Bequest, Deed, Time._—Where property has been devised
for a particular purpose or on certain conditions attached thereto, the
law may be invoked to protect the fund according to the bequest.(506) And
where a deed contained a clause that the lots should never be sold nor
used in any other way except for the benefit of a specified Protestant
Church, although the deed contained no clause of forfeiture, when the
congregation sold the property the grantor was entitled to have the deed
set aside and the title re-vested in himself.(507) And a grant made upon
condition that a church be erected thereon, prevents the grantee from
conveying it for other purposes without the consent of the grantor or his
heirs.(508) But where a devise was made on condition that a church be
built on the property within three years, the provision being a condition
subsequent, a court has the right to extend the time.(509)
*285.* _Will, Forfeiture._—The provision in a will or deed that land shall
be used for purposes of a certain church, may create a trust for the
benefit of the church only and not a condition the breach of which would
work a forfeiture.(510) When a condition is put in a deed that it shall be
forever used as a burial ground for the interment of bodies, it is
doubtful whether the grantor and grantee together may change the uses of
the property. Therefore, it is important in taking deeds to cemeteries to
have no condition whatever, unless such conditions are desired.(511)
*286.* _Condition, Quit-Claim._—After conveying land upon a specified
condition, the grantor then gave a quit-claim deed, and the court held
that that relieved the grant from the condition.(512)
*287.* _Bishop, Trust, Successors._—A deed of land to the bishop of a
church for a Protestant Episcopal church in fee simple, created a trust
and on the death of such bishop the title passed to his successors.(513)
Where a grantee in a deed absolute on its face, is in fact archbishop of
the Roman Catholic Church for his diocese, its canons and decrees
regulating the mode of acquiring and holding church property are competent
evidence to show that the property is so held in trust for purposes for
public worship and other charitable uses. And property so held by a
Catholic bishop in trust for the diocese, or in trust for a congregation,
school, cemetery, or asylum, for the separate use of each, is not
chargeable with any part of the expenses of another one or for improving
the church property generally in the diocese.(514)
*288.* _Trustees, Vacancy._—When land is conveyed to certain persons as
trustees of a church and their successors lawfully appointed, a court of
equity will not step in to fill a vacancy but will leave that to be filled
by the church in accordance with its discipline.(515) But an attempt to
sell real estate of a religious society against the provisions of its
charter, will be prevented by a court of equity.(516)
*289.* _Church, Majority, Change._—When property is conveyed to a church
having a well-known doctrine, faith, and practice, a majority of the
members has not the authority or power by reason of a change of religious
views to carry the property thus dedicated to a new and different
doctrine.(517)
*290.* _Title, Harmony, Division._—The title to church property in a
divided congregation is in that part of the congregation which acts in
harmony with the law of the denomination; and the ecclesiastical laws and
principles which were accepted among them before the dispute began, are
the standard for determining which party is right.(518) In other cases the
division of church property, where there is a division of the
congregation, depends upon its particular facts.(519) Where $400 was
bequeathed to a Lutheran congregation in S——, there being at the time of
the making of the will but one Lutheran congregation in the place, but
subsequently a majority of the trustees and members with the pastor left
the church and built a new one, the old church continued vested with the
title to the property and all its funds.(520)
*291.* _Perversion, Misuse, Suit._—Unless there is substantial departure
from the purpose of the trust which amounts to a perversion of it, a court
of equity will not interfere to prevent the misuse or abuse of a trust of
a religious nature. In actions in the State court, if the church is not
incorporated, an action should be brought in the names of the members
collectively, and if they are too numerous to be all named, the suit may
be brought in the name of one or more of them for the whole. The same
rules apply to religious societies when sued. However, in some dioceses,
particularly in the Catholic Church, the title to the church property is
in the bishop and he thereby becomes an interested party who must be made
either a plaintiff or a defendant.(521)
*292.* _Rights, Contracts, Torts, Crimes._—Vested property rights,
contracts, torts, and crimes, are usually subject to the laws of the State
and the control and judgment of a church tribunal is seldom final. While
the State courts have no ecclesiastical jurisdiction and can not revise or
question ordinary acts of church discipline, they have the power to
adjudicate conflicting claims of parties to the church property or the use
of it.(522)
*293.* _Cemetery, Assessments._—Where a lot was bought for the purpose of
building a church but was used for a cemetery, and a church was built at
another place and the deed to the lot was taken in the name of the
trustees, the pastor and a member of the church corporation were not the
proper parties to bring an action to restrain the State from selling the
lot to pay the assessments for pavement, as they had no legal or equitable
interest for the protection of which they could claim the interposition of
a court of equity.(523)
*294.* _Burned, Revert, Vested._—The fact that a church on lands donated
to the parish, on condition of sustaining the church, burned down, the
title did not revert to the grantor’s heirs.(524) Also land granted a
bishop for church uses, vested immediately in him and was not forfeited
because it was not used for church purposes.(525)
*295.* _Abandoned, Revert._—Land granted to trustees and their successors
forever in trust to erect a Methodist church, according to its rules and
discipline, which was used for such church for a long time and then
abandoned and sold to parties who converted it into a blacksmith shop, did
not thereupon revert in the absence of a provision to that effect.(526)
*296.* _Uses and Trusts._—The chapter of the Wisconsin statutes on
religious societies, although not included in the same title as the
chapter abolishing all uses and trusts excepting as therein created, was
not intended to prohibit the trusts expressly authorized by the
former.(527)
*297.* _Trust Funds, Account._—Where a member of the church received funds
to invest in his own name for the benefit of the church, he will be
obliged in a court of equity to give full account for the money and its
profits.(528)
*298.* _Fund, Diverted, Split._—A fund created for a particular purpose,
as the education of children in the faith and doctrines of a denomination
at the time the fund is created, can not be diverted from its original
object.(529) Neither can such a fund be split up when a congregation is
divided, but must be retained as created.(530)
*299.* _Church, Personalty._—A church removed from its foundation and put
on rollers was severed from the realty and became personal property.(531)
*300.* _Lease, Purposes._—A religious literary society and scientific
corporation has power to lease part of a building owned by it for
theatrical and operatic purposes.(532)
*301.* _Salary, Lien, Equity._—The church building and the land on which
it stands have been held subject to the payment of a debt due for the
salary of a pastor of the congregation owning such property.(533) A
contractor is entitled to a lien on the church property for work done on
the building.(534) A person who became liable for the debts of the
congregation incurred in the purchase of church property, obtained relief
in equity by subjecting the church property to a sale.(535)
*302.* _Bankruptcy, Creditors._—There is no provision of law for a church
corporation to make an assignment in bankruptcy. However, the church
corporation may be sued and a receiver appointed to take possession of the
property and sequester the assets.(536) But where assignments in
bankruptcy and a sale and conveyance of church property are lawful, the
church property may be assigned for the benefit of the creditors.(537)
*303.* _Jurisdiction, Process._—In order to obtain jurisdiction where
there are contentions between various persons claiming to be officers, the
only safe rule is to serve the process on all those who are in the offices
or claim the offices upon the occupants of which the papers must be
served.(538)
*304.* _States, Property, Restrictions._—Some States restrict the quantity
and use of property that a religious society or church may hold. Other
States have no restrictions; but nearly all the States have some statutory
law on the subject, which is changed so frequently that it would be
useless to give the provisions of such law in this work.(539)
*305.* _Land, Limitation._—A statute of Illinois relating to Catholic
societies contains no limitations on property rights, but it was held that
the general law applied, and that an organization having ten acres could
not acquire additional land by devise. A conveyance of land to a
corporation after it has taken all the land allowed by law, is void.(540)
In Kentucky where a church is limited to fifty acres and a devise was made
to a church for the benefit of foreign missions, it was held valid under a
statute providing that all devises for relief of aged, impotent, poor
people, churches, or for any other charitable or humane purposes, shall be
valid.(541) Maryland’s peculiar law by which leave must be obtained from
the Legislature for a conveyance of more than two acres of land, has been
construed to give the Legislature authority to ratify a conveyance that
otherwise would be void under the statute.(542) Also, it was held in the
same case that a church might acquire more land, but that it would be
restricted with regard to its use. A statute prohibiting a religious
society from holding more than twenty acres of land applied to a single
religious society and not to the denomination.(543) Where the territorial
law provided that no religious corporation should hold real estate of
greater value than $50,000, a receiver was appointed for the Mormon
corporation.(544)
*306.* _Corporations, Bequests._—Foreign religious corporations may be
entitled to recover bequests made to them in some States; but the general
rule is that a foreign religious society has no better right to take
property by devise than a domestic corporation.(545) When the statute
requires a conveyance to specify the purpose for which a religious society
takes land, the failure to so specify renders the deed void.(546) But the
Young Men’s Christian Association was declared not within the limitation
because it was not formed for pecuniary benefit and profit and was not
under the control of any one denomination nor formed for religious
worship.(547)
*307.* _Collateral Attack._—A devise of land to a religious society which
will increase the title beyond the amount that is allowed by statute, can
not be attacked collaterally by a private individual.(548) It is for the
State and not for the individual to make inquiry into excess on the part
of a religious society in its accumulation.(549)