Atty. Gregorio B. Austral, CPA
Can courts resolve a conflict in the house of God?
(Part II)
As early as 1988, the Board of Directors observed that certain members of the CHURCH, including petitioners herein, exhibited “conduct which was dishonorable, improper and injurious to the character and interest of the (CHURCH)” by “introducing (to the members) doctrines and teachings which were not based on the Holy Bible” and the Principles of Faith embraced by the CHURCH.
Confronted with this situation, the respondents, as members of the Board of Directors, and some responsible members of the CHURCH, advised the petitioners “to correct their ways” and reminded them “that under the By-laws, this organization is only for worshipping the true God, not to worship Buddha or men.” The respondents also warned them that if they persist in their highly improper conduct, they will be dropped from the membership of the CHURCH. These exhortations and warnings to the erring members were made during Sunday worship gatherings, “in small group meetings and even one-on-one personal talk with them.” Since 1988, these warnings were announced by the members of the Board “sometimes once a week (when they) meet together.”
But petitioners ignored these repeated admonitions. Alarmed that petitioners’ conduct will continue to undermine the integrity of the Principles of Faith of the CHURCH, the Board of Directors, during its August 30, 1993 regular meeting held for the purpose of reviewing and updating the membership list of the CHURCH, removed from the said list certain names of members, including the names of herein petitioners Joseph Lim, Liu Yek See, Alfredo Long and Felix Almeria. They were removed for espousing doctrines inimical or injurious to the Principles of Faith of the CHURCH. The Board also updated the list by removing the names of those who have migrated to other countries, those deceased and those whom the CHURCH had lost contact with.
Petitioners insist that the expulsion is void since it was rendered without prior notice to them or, in a constitutional context, without due process. On the other hand, respondents assert that the expulsion is in accordance with the By-laws of the CHURCH.
The Court found that the petitioners’ claim that their expulsion was executed without prior notice or due process was baseless. The Court ruled as follows:
In the first place, the By-laws of the CHURCH, which the members have expressly adhered to, does not require the Board of Directors to give prior notice to the erring or dissident members in cases of expulsion. This is evident from the procedure for expulsion prescribed in Article VII (paragraph 4) of the By-laws, which reads:
“4. If it is brought to the notice of the Board of Directors that any member has failed to observe any regulations and By-laws of the Institution (CHURCH) or the conduct of any member has been dishonorable or improper or otherwise injurious to the character and interest of the Institution, the Board of Directors may by resolution without assigning any reason therefor expel such member from such Institution and he shall then forfeit his interest, rights and privileges in the Institution.
From the above-quoted By-law provision, the only requirements before a member can be expelled or removed from the membership of the CHURCH are: (a) the Board of Directors has been notified that a member has failed to observe any regulations and By-laws of the CHURCH, or the conduct of any member has been dishonorable or improper or otherwise injurious to the character and interest of the CHURCH, and (b) a resolution is passed by the Board expelling the member concerned, without assigning any reason therefor.
It is thus clear that a member who commits any of the causes for expulsion enumerated in paragraph 4 of Article VII may be expelled by the Board of Directors, through a resolution, without giving that erring member any notice prior to his expulsion. The resolution need not even state the reason for such action.
The CHURCH By-law provision on expulsion, as phrased, may sound unusual and objectionable to petitioners as there is no requirement of prior notice to be given to an erring member before he can be expelled. But that is how peculiar the nature of a religious corporation is vis–vis an ordinary corporation organized for profit. It must be stressed that the basis of the relationship between a religious corporation and its members is the latter’s absolute adherence to a common religious or spiritual belief. Once this basis ceases, membership in the religious corporation must also cease. Thus, generally, there is no room for dissension in a religious corporation. And where, as here, any member of a religious corporation is expelled from the membership for espousing doctrines and teachings contrary to that of his church, the established doctrine in this jurisdiction is that such action from the church authorities is conclusive upon the civil courts.
As far back in 1918, we held in United States vs. Canete that: “in matters purely ecclesiastical the decisions of the proper church tribunals are conclusive upon the civil tribunals. A church member who is expelled from the membership by the church authorities, or a priest or minister who is by them deprived of his sacred office, is without remedy in the civil courts, which will not inquire into the correctness of the decisions of the ecclesiastical tribunals.”