CONSTI-2 SLC-LAW

DIGEST 177: FONACIER VS COURT OF APPEALS

TOPIC: Freedom of Religion

G.R. No. L-5917             January 28, 1955

PETITIONER: SANTIAGO A. FONACIER

RESPONDENTS: COURT OF APPEALS and ISABELO DE LOS REYES, Jr.

FACTS:
This case was against Bishop Santiago A. Fonacier seeking to require the latter to render an accounting of his
administration of all the temporal properties he has in his possession belonging to said church and to recover the same
from him on the ground that he had ceased to be the Supreme Bishop of said religious organization. Mons. Fonacier
claims as a defense that he has not been properly removed as Supreme Bishop and claimed that civil courts have no
jurisdiction to review or revise an action of decree of the ecclesiastical courts or authorities removing him as Supreme
Bishop.

ISSUE:
 Whether or not civil courts have the jurisdiction over the case at bar

HELD:

The courts may acquire jurisdiction in the case.

Where a decision of an ecclesiastical court plainly violates the law it professes to administer, or is in conflict with
the laws of the land, it will not be followed by the civil courts. In some instances, not only have the civil courts assumed
the right to inquire into the jurisdiction of religious tribunals and the regularity of their procedure, but they have subjected
their decisions to the test of fairness or to the test furnished by the constitution and laws of the church.

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