Friday, 20 September 2002
By Howard Fischer
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
PHOENIX - Churches can't hide behind the First Amendment to block lawsuits by saying they didn't supervise pastors who abuse congregants, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
The judges rejected arguments by attorneys for the regional district of the Church of the Nazarene that it would be unconstitutional for a civil court to look into who was hired and what kind of oversight was provided. The court said the claims, including coercing the victim into having sexual relations, can be examined by civil authorities without running afoul of the separation of church and state.
The court also brushed aside claims by both the Arizona/Southern Nevada district and the national board of the Church of the Nazarene that civil courts must accept without question a provision in the church's own manual that it had no authority over operations of local churches.
Thursday's ruling aids others who have sued both individual churches and entire religious organizations on charges that priests and ministers had abused their position to prey on parishioners. It spells out that those who are injured can pursue their claims not just against the individual, but the entire church hierarchy.
This case surrounds Pastor Edward Yousfi, hired by the Crossroads Church of the Nazarene in Chandler in 1996. Tempe resident Shirin Rashedi says church officials had "credible evidence" Yousfi had a history of stealing money from, improperly soliciting investments from and engaging in sexual misconduct with church members in other states.
According to Rashedi, Yousfi and his brother, Joseph Youssefi, a church employee, defrauded her of at least $286,000 and Yousfi gave the church thousands of dollars improperly obtained from church members. She also contends the church, informed of her allegations, vouched for Yousfi and conducted no investigation.
Rashedi said Yousfi engaged in sexual relations with her by using his position as pastor and spiritual adviser.
Attorneys for the board responded by submitting pages from the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene. They said the manual explains that the board had no control or knowledge of operations of local churches - and civil courts must accept provisions of the manual and can't inquire further.
The district lawyer said its only contact with Yousfi was granting him the status of licensed minister. He said examining that would require a review of church doctrine, a matter over which he said courts have no jurisdiction.
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