The Fight for Religious Freedom in Our Own Backyard
In recent years, the Supreme Court has secured some important religious victories, and yet the fight still continues. The attacks on religious liberty protected under the First Amendment seemingly never end and so must our vigilance to defend against them. The question of what constitutes religious liberty and the limits of the state are constantly being contested. Even when courts rule favorably towards religious liberty, the process becomes punishment. State and local government officials are willing to subject their citizens to onerous fines, costs and court battles that can last for years, no matter what the Supreme Court says or for that matter the Constitution. Case in point is the Christian baker and owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop, Jack Phillips. He and his family suffered through 12 years of legal battles and harassment by the State of Colorado's, Civil Rights Commission. Despite winning his case in the Supreme Court he was almost immediately sued again, but the case was finally overturned by the Colorado Supreme Court.
That brings us to the case festering in our own backyard in Carnegie borough located in Collier township. The Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church was founded by refugees that settled in Carnegie, PA after fleeing communism and The Soviet Union in the 20th Century. In 1951 they purchased 2 parcels of land in Collier Township on which they built a church and the other a 41 acre property, they built a mausoleum and a cemetary. In 2023 they drew up plans to build a Shrine dedicated to Mary and the sanctity of life, a retreat center, parking garage and a bell tower on the property. To do so they had to conduct a traffic study, submit their plans and application to amend the zoning law to allow building. A similar request was granted by the Board of Commissioners for a 93,000 square foot complex of buildings on a 19 acre campus for The Carpenters Union Training Center. However, The Board of Commissioners denied the application from Holy Trinity, citing traffic concerns, fundraising issues and objections to the pro-life message. A scaled down version of the plan was re-submitted and approved but with restrictions that included when they could conduct services, when they could ring their bell, how long they could ring it and even for whom it could be rung, only for people who died after a certain date. This precluded them from ringing the bell on All Saints Day which they commemorate in their tradition.
The Church filed suit in federal district court, represented by the First Liberty Institute, citing First Amendment violations of the Free Exercise Clause and the RLUIPA (Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act) The court denied the church's motion for a preliminary injunction. The decision to deny was upheld on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Judge Christy Wiegand wrote the opinion for the majority, in it she stated there was a failure to demonstrate "Irreparable Harm," among other specific procedural and legal reasons. So what does this mean for Holy Trinity? A denial of a preliminary injunction does not mean they lost the lawsuit. In fact in Wiegand's decision she wrote that the church has a "strong likelihood of success on the merits," regarding its RLUIPA discrimination claim. The church needs to continue to slug it out, proceeding to a full trial. As I stated before the punishment is in the process. What then does irreparable harm mean? You can not place a monetary cost on something as intangible as a denial of a Constitutional Right, that is true, but is not the denial of an inalienable right damage enough? What is happening in Carnegie to Holy Trinity could very well happen to Beverly Heights in Mount Lebanon, albeit it might be under totally different circumstances. The process is the same, the wheels of justice turn slowly and will grind you under them, if you do not have the means to sustain a long legal defense. What can we do? Donate to organizations like First Liberty that defend their clients pro bono and pray for Holy Trinity Church. As for me when they win, I just might see if I can take a turn ringing their bell as hard and as long as I can.