Supreme Court of Canada rules faith communities not subject to court review on non-legal matters Photo by Bill Oxford on Unsplash Supreme Court of Canada rules faith communities not subject to court review on non-legal matters By Catholic Register Staff May 25, 2021
The Supreme Court of Canada has reaffirmed that secular courts should not be making theological decisions.
In a May 21 ruling, the court ruled unanimously in Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Canada v Aga that membership in a voluntary religious community is not a matter to be adjudicated by a secular court.
Canada’s Ethiopian Orthodox Archbishop Abune Dimetros has been in a legal battle with five members of the cathedral parish of St. Mary’s in Toronto ever since the archbishop expelled the parishioners for repeatedly accusing him of tolerating heresy. Dimetros offended the five parishioners by not imposing stricter penalties on a liturgical movement.
Rights league defends church rights to manage own affairs January 7, 2021
A little legal ecumenism played out on Zoom before the Supreme Court of Canada as the Catholic Civil Rights League, along with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, came to the defence of Canada’s Ethiopian Orthodox Archbishop Abune Dimetros.
The Catholic Civil Rights League takes no position on orthodox or unorthodox liturgy in the Geez Rite of the Orthodox Tewahedo Church, but it was keen to protect the right of faith communities to manage their own affairs without the interference of civil courts, said veteran CCRL lawyer Phil Horgan, who argued the case on Dec. 9 before the Zoomed-in Supreme Court, along with fellow lawyer Raphael Fernandes.