The condition in a gift to a church to teach a definite Christian doctrine is not satisfied by teaching merely a form of general evangel-. lcal Christianity ; Lowrey v. Hawaii, 215 U. S. 554, 30 Sup. Ct. 209, 54 L. Ed. 325.
A conveyance of real estate to a trustee for the use of a particular congregation con stitutes an executed legal estate in the con gregation itself, to be used by it for such pur poses as the law allows ; and the congrega tion may direct the trustee to convey to other persons as trustees, and he may not refuse to do so on the ground that he is a Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church of which the congregation is a part ; Krauczunas v. Hoban, 221 Pa. 213, 70 Atl. 740.
The right of a communistic religious asso ciation to engage in business enterprises is upheld in State v. Amana Soc., 132 Ia. 304, 109 N. W. 894, 8 L. R. A. (N. S.) 909, 11 Ann. Cas. 231.
A priest necessarily subjects his conduct, in that capacity, to the laws and customs of his church ; and in that respect, when his case has 'been heard according to the pre scribed forms, the decision of the tribunals of the church will be respected by the courts ; Stack v. O'Hara, 98 Pa. 213 ; Chase v. Chen ey, 58 III. 509, 11 Am. Rep. 95.
In religious bodies all matters of faith and internal government will be left to the de cision of the bodies themselves ; Tuigg v.
Treacy, 104 Pa. 493 ; Trustees of East Nor way Lake Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church v. Halvorson, 42 Minn. 503, 44 N. W. 663 ; Stewart v. Lee, 5 Del. Ch. 573 ; Schlich ter v. Keiter, 156 Pa. 119, 27 Atl. 45, 22 L. R. A. 161; Schweiker v. Husser, 146 Ill. 428, 34 N. E. 1022. But where these decisions violate the law of the land, or their own law ; Appeal of Kerr, 89 Pa. 97; courts will ex amine them ; Pounder v. Ashe, 36 Neb. 564, 54 N. W. 847; after the ecclesiastical remedies have been exhausted ; Buettner v. Frazer, 100 Mich. 179, 58 N. W. 834.
If property rights are involved, courts will assume jurisdiction ; Cushman v. Church, 162 Pa. 280, 29 Atl. 872 ; Lynd v. Menzies, 33 N. J. L. 162 ; and the office of priest ; O'Hara v. Stack, 90 Pa. 477 ; or vestryman ; Dahl v. Palache, 68 Cal. 248, 9 Pac. 94 ; involves a property right.
See RELIGION; EXPULSION; 12 Am. L. Reg. N. S. 201; 15 id. 264 ; Mt. Zion Baptist Church v. Whitmore, 83 Ia. 138, 49 N. W. 81, 13 L. R. A. 198 ; Brown v. Clark, 102 Tex. 323, 116 S. W. 360, 24 L. R. A. (N.. S.) 671; Mack v. Kime, 129 Ga. 1, 58 S. E. 184, 24 L. R. A. (N. S.) 675, 692 ; Poynter v. Phelps, 129 Ky. 381, 111 S. W. 699, 24 L. R. A. (N. S.) 729.