Doe v. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cashel & Emly
filed August 31, 2009
Cite as 2009 SOS 5332

California Courts Have No Jurisdiction over a Foreign Church

John Doe (Doe) filed a case against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Stockton (Stockton archdiocese) and Oliver O’Grady (O’Grady), one of its former priests. Doe alleged that O’Grady sexually molested him in 1969 and 1970 when he was about 11 years old.

Doe eventually settled with the Stockton archdiocese. However, he added as defendant the Archdiocese of Cashel & Emly (Cashel & Emly) located in County Tiperary, Ireland. Doe claimed that Cashel & Emly, owner and operator of Saint Patrick’s seminary, trained and ordained O’Grady and sent him to Stockton knowing him to be a child molester.

Cashel & Emly, acting through Archbishop Clifford McDermott, moved to quash the service of the summons on the ground that the California courts had no jurisdiction over it.

The trial court allowed Doe to take discovery on the jurisdictional issues. It was found out that O’Grady was born and raised in Ireland. He was living there when he entered the seminary in 1964. It was in 1965 when he was accepted as a candidate for priesthood at the Stockton archdiocese.

Stockton archdiocese paid O’Grady’s tuition and living expenses at St. Patrick. Eventually, O’Grady was ordained as a priest and moved to Stockton to serve.

After trial, court concluded that California could not acquire jurisdiction over Stockton archdiocese because it had no ongoing residence or relationships in California. It added that even if ordained priests leave Ireland and go to California, it did not subject the seminary and Cashel & Emly to its jurisdiction.

Moreover, the trial court found that there was no admissible evidence that the Stockton archdiocese knew O’Grady had a “propensity to molest children or that his ordination would put him in a position to do so wherever he went.”

On appeal, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the decision of the trial court. It ruled that it has no jurisdiction to try and hear the case because Stockton Archdiocese had no property and had not been conducting business operations in California. Further, it never sent an agent into the state to conduct business in its behalf.

Also, Stockton Archdiocese presented substantial evidence that it did not assign O’Grady to his post but merely received money from California church to pay the costs and expenses of priest’s education.