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HOLLYWOOD, CA: Court reverses St. Mary of the Angels Parish Decision in Latest Legal Skirmish
By David W. Virtue DD
www.virtueonline.org
November 6, 2015
On October 26, 2015, Superior Court of Los Angeles County Judge Mary H. Strobel issued a decision in the retrial of the St. Mary of the Angels case, which had been returned to the trial court in September 2014 following a successful appeal by Fr. Christopher P. Kelley and the elected vestry of the parish.
In her decision, Judge Strobel ruled, "Following the directions of the Court of Appeal to resolve the question of the validity of the August 2012 vote, the court finds the proposal to amend the Articles of Incorporation and bylaws of St Mary['s] of the Angels Parish in Hollywood to disaffiliate itself from the Anglican Church in America was approved by a two-thirds majority and thus is effective.
"Based on the stipulation of the parties that the other elements of Plaintiff's cause of action for forcible detainer are deemed proven, the court finds in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendants on the cause of action for forcible detainer."
Fr. Kelley and the elected vestry are completing the legal motions necessary to regain physical possession of the property within the next several weeks, a source told VOL.
The rector of St. Mary's, the Ven. Canon Frederick Rivers, Vicar General of the Diocese of the West, (ACA), told VOL that the situation regarding St. Mary of the Angels in Los Angeles is still fluid and should not be seen as a major setback.
"In the ongoing court proceedings, on October 26, 2015, Judge Strobel issued an announcement of tentative decision and proposed statement of decision. Both parties have a specified time period to respond to this announcement. When a final decision is issued, both parties have the opportunity to appeal her decision.
"Nothing has been finalized and we will know Judge Strobel's decision sometime in November and in the allotted time following, we will know if one or the other of the parties will appeal."
In 2012 the Anglo-Catholic parish of St. Mary of the Angels, embroiled in a legal and ecclesiastical battle over its property and priest had, by a two-thirds majority, voted to leave the Anglican Church in America and join the Roman Catholic Church through the Ordinariate.
"We are officially independent as we continue on our journey to be received into the Ordinariate," said Dr. Allan H. B. Trimpi, Senior Warden of St. Mary of the Angels at that time. "Our new Articles of Incorporation are now on file with the California Secretary of State."
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