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 Judge: Breakaway Anglicans Must Share Churches
With Diocese
by The Canadian Press
Posted: May 6, 2008 - 5:00 pm ET
(Toronto, Ontario) Three breakaway southern Ontario Anglican parishes won't get to
take their churches with them, says an Ontario Superior Court justice.
However, Justice J.A. Milanetti, in his decision, ruled that
the withdrawing members of the three parishes must share the parishes with
Anglican Diocese of Niagara.
St. Hilda's in Oakville, St. George's in Lowville and Good Shepherd in St.
Catharines have all left the Anglican Church of Canada.
They are now aligned with the more conservative Anglican Network in Canada.
They asked the court to grant them exclusive use of the church buildings
without interference from the diocese.
The Anglican Diocese of Niagara had asked the court to order the facilities
be shared and jointly managed by the two groups.
``Title to two of the three properties rests with the diocese, the third
appears to rest with them as well,'' Milanetti ruled.
``The three parish properties will be jointly managed and administered by a
committee consisting of one representative of the withdrawing members of St.
George's, St. Hilda's, and Good Shepherd, and the Diocesan Administrator for
each parish,'' she said in her decision. ``Any dispute relating to the
management and administration of the three parishes will be referred to an
arbitrator.''
The diocese will also have full access to each of the three parishes for
three hours each Sunday and on other feast days and for weddings and funerals,
Milanetti ruled.
Last fall, Archbishop Gregory Venables of the Anglican Province of the
Southern Cone invited conservative Anglicans in this country to join his church
if they are unhappy with the Canadian church's liberal leanings.
The main dispute has been same sex marriage
blessings.
The Canadian church voted last summer that such blessings do not contravene
core church doctrine.
The three southern Ontario parishes were among about 15 that formed the
Anglican Network in Canada.
Dissident Anglicans believe their core beliefs _ the divinity of Jesus
Christ, the sanctity of marriage and the rigidity of the 10 Commandments _ are
being called into question by the Anglican Church of Canada.
The Anglican Church of Canada says one of the faith's virtues is welcoming
liberal views.
``The Anglican church at its best is a broad representation of different
views; that's what separates us from the Roman Catholic Church,'' Archdeacon
Paul Feheney said last month.
©365Gay.com 2008
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