Episcopal Diocese Loses Bid Over Breakaways

A judge Thursday reiterated his previous rulings that the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has no legal claim on church buildings and other property owned by three conservative breakaway parishes.

“The court has nothing further to add” in support of its earlier rulings, Orange County Superior Court Judge David C. Velasquez wrote in response to new amendments made to complaints he had rejected in August and December.

The diocese tried to seize the property of the churches -- St. James in Newport Beach, All Saints in Long Beach and St. David’s in North Hollywood -- after they broke away in dispute over what they said was the diocese’s unorthodox and lenient views on homosexuality.

The diocese has said it intends to appeal the rulings.