Supreme Court declines hearing Catholic donations case

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied hearing a case challenging the handling of donations in the Catholic church.

The case, Conference of Catholic Bishops v. O’Connell, focuses on David O’Connell, a Rhode Island man who filed a lawsuit alleging he was misled about how the Catholic church would use his offerings.

The church collected offerings in Sunday services for Peter’s Pence, a program used to aid marginalized groups around the world.

O’Connell said the funds were used for investments instead of emergency assistance. He said he would not have donated if he knew the true use of the funds.

The conference of bishops appealed the lawsuit, citing church autonomy doctrines that could have prevented it from moving forward. Lower courts ruled that the church autonomy doctrine does not prevent a lawsuit from moving forward.

Lawyers for the Catholic bishops argued that church autonomy and the First Amendment are meant to protect it from lawsuits like O’Connell’s. They said requests for information as part of the lawsuit go beyond the scope of constitutional protections.

“The state interference required to adjudicate this lawsuit – which involves demands for lists of papal donors, accounting for the Pope’s use of Peter’s Pence, and disclosure of the Bishops’ internal communications with the Holy See about Peter’s Pence – would violate the church autonomy doctrine,” lawyers for the Catholic bishops wrote.

Lawyers for O’Connell argued church autonomy doctrines only come into effect as a liability defense, instead of automatic lawsuit protections.

“A ‘merits defense’ is not an ‘immunity from suit’ and is not collaterally appealable,” lawyers fro O’Connell wrote.

Justices on the high court denied hearing the church autonomy case. Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson did not take part in considering the case, because she served on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in the cases prior consideration.

The high court’s denial means church’s cannot automatically appeal based on autonomy claims when an individual brings a lawsuit.