A Superior Court judgment released yesterday has ordered three parishes in the diocese of Niagara that voted earlier this year to affiliate themselves with the Province of the Southern Cone to share the use of their property with the diocese.
The judgment, by Madam Justice Jane Milanetti, supported the position advanced by the diocese at a previous hearing. The dissident parishes – St. George’s Lowville, St. Hilda’s Oakville and the Church of the Good Shepherd St. Catharines were seeking exclusive use of parish properties.
In her decision, Madam Justice Milanetti ruled that the title of two of the three parishes clearly rests with the diocese and that the third probably does as well.
She said that the position advanced by the diocese that parish facilities be shared seemed logical to her.
Madam Justice Milanetti also awarded legal costs to the diocese of Niagara.