If this opinion indicates that it is “FOR PUBLICATION,” it is subject to revision until final publication in the Michigan Appeals Reports. STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS HOLY TRINITY ROMANIAN ORTHODOX UNPUBLISHED MONASTERY and ADRIAN M. LUPU-LEICA, March 19, 2019 Plaintiffs-Appellees, v No. 342844 Washtenaw Circuit Court ROMANIAN ORTHODOX EPISCOPATE OF LC No. 17-000876-CB AMERICA, Defendant-Appellant. ROMANIAN ORTHODOX EPISCOPATE OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellant, and WILLIAM G. POPP, also known as NATHANIAL POPP, and BISHOP OF THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX EPISCOPATE OF AMERICA, Plaintiffs, v No. 342846 Washtenaw Circuit Court HOLY ASCENSION ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LC No. 17-000904-CB MONASTERY, HOLY TRINITY ROMANIAN ORTHODOX MONASTERY, ADRIAN LUPU- LEICA, DORIAN CONTY, SEBASTIAN STEFAN DUMITRASCU, and IOAN IRINEU DUVLEA, Defendants-Appellees. -1- Before: SAWYER, P.J., and CAVANAGH and K. F. KELLY, JJ. PER CURIAM. In this consolidated appeal, the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America (ROEA), a diocese of the Orthodox Church in America, appeals as of right the trial court’s order granting appellees Holy Trinity Romanian Orthodox Monastery and Adrian Leica’s motion for declaratory judgment and quiet title. We reverse and remand. The ROEA created the Holy Ascension Romanian Orthodox Christian Monastery, a Michigan nonprofit corporation during 2001. The ROEA’s Archbishop Nathanial Popp invited then Bishop Ioan Duvlea and the Reverend Father Sebastian Dumitrascu from Romania to come to America to serve the Romanian immigrant community. Duvlea served as the monastery’s abbot. During 2011, Leica conveyed two parcels of real property located at 15143 Sheridan Rd., Clinton, Michigan, in Washtenaw County to the monastery. Later, the ROEA and the Orthodox Church in America investigated allegations of misconduct by Duvlea. During 2015, Duvlea, Dumitrascu, and others on the board of trustees of Holy Ascension amended the monastery’s articles of incorporation and bylaws. The ROEA prepared a memorandum regarding the ROEA’s ownership interest in the real property located at 15143 Sheridan Rd. and recorded the memorandum on November 8, 2016, in the Washtenaw County Register of Deeds. The ROEA and the Orthodox Church in America held a trial of Duvlea that resulted in Duvlea’s suspension and demotion to the status of a lay monk. During July 2017, Duvlea, Dumitrascu, and others on Holy Ascension’s board of trustees conveyed the real property located at 15143 Sheridan Rd. by quitclaim deed to Holy Trinity, a Michigan nonprofit corporation they created, and they dissolved Holy Ascension without the knowledge of the ROEA and the Orthodox Church in America. On September 6, 2017, Holy Trinity and Leica sued the ROEA for declaratory judgment and to quiet title to the disputed property. On September 12, the ROEA and Popp sued Leica, Dorian Conty, Dumitrascu, Duvlea, Holy Trinity, and Holy Ascension for declaratory judgment, quiet title, and slander of title. Holy Trinity and Leica moved for declaratory judgment, and the trial court ruled in their favor. The ROEA now appeals. This case requires determination whether Holy Trinity, a monastic corporate entity formed by a schismatic faction that left the ROEA, could claim ownership of the property that the faction conveyed from Holy Ascension before dissolving ...
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