Belya v. Kapral

• Decision Date: 17 August 2022
• Docket Number: Docket No. 21-1498,August Term 2021
• Citation: 45 F.4th 621
• Parties: Alexander BELYA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Hilarion KAPRAL, aka Metropolitan Hilarion, Nicholas Olkhovskiy, Victor Potapov, Serge Lukianov, David Straut, Alexandre Antchoutine, George Temidis, Serafim Gan, Boris Dmitrieff, Eastern American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, The Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Mark Mancuso, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

45 F.4th 621

Alexander BELYA, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Hilarion KAPRAL, aka Metropolitan Hilarion, Nicholas Olkhovskiy, Victor Potapov, Serge Lukianov, David Straut, Alexandre Antchoutine, George Temidis, Serafim Gan, Boris Dmitrieff, Eastern American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, The Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Mark Mancuso, Defendants-Appellants.^*

Docket No. 21-1498

August Term 2021

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: March 7, 2022

Decided: August 17, 2022

Amended: September 16, 2022

Diana Verm Thomson (Daniel H. Blomberg, Lori H. Windham, Daniel D. Benson, on the brief), The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Washington, DC, and Donald J. Feerick, Jr., Feerick Nugent MacCartney, PLLC, South Nyack, NY, for Defendants-Appellants.

Bradley Girard (Richard B. Katskee, on the brief), Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Washington, DC, and Oleg Rivkin, Rivkin Law Group PLLC, New York, NY, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Thomas G. Hungar, Andrew G.I. Kilberg, John Matthew Butler, Jason Manion, Macey L. Olave, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Washington, DC, and San Francisco, CA, for Amici Curiae Professor Michael W. McConnell and Professor Douglas Laycock.

Gordon D. Todd, Daniel J. Hay, John L. Gibbons, Sidley Austin LLP, Washington, DC, for Amici Curiae The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Assemblies of God (USA), Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy of the Anglican Church in North America, General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in support of Defendants-Appellants.

Ryan Paulsen, Ryan N. Gardner, Haynes and Boone, LLP, Dallas, TX, for Amicus Curiae Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty, in support of Defendants-Appellants.

Matthew T. Nelson, Warner Norcross + Judd LLP, Grand Rapids, MI, for Amici Curiae Constitutional Law Scholars, in support of Defendants-Appellants.

James A. Campbell, Solicitor General of Nebraska; Douglas J. Peterson, Attorney General of Nebraska; David T. Bydalek, Chief Deputy Attorney General of Nebraska; Steve Marshall, Attorney General of Alabama; Mark Brnovich, Attorney General of Arizona; Leslie Rutledge, Attorney General of Arkansas; Chris Carr, Attorney General of Georgia; Derek Schmidt, Attorney General of Kansas; Daniel Cameron, Attorney General of Kentucky; Jeff Landry, Attorney General of Louisiana; Lynn Fitch, Attorney General of Mississippi; Eric S. Schmitt, Attorney General of Missouri; Austin Knudsen, Attorney General of Montana; John M. O'Connor, Attorney General of Oklahoma; Alan Wilson, Attorney General of South Carolina; and Sean D. Reyes, Attorney General of Utah, for Amici Curiae States of Nebraska, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah, in support of Defendants-Appellants.

Before: Chin, Lohier, And Robinson, Circuit Judges.

Chin, Circuit Judge:

In this case, plaintiff-appellee Alexander Belya sued defendants-appellants -- individuals and entities affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia ("ROCOR" and, collectively, "Defendants") -- for defamation, contending that they defamed him when they publicly accused him of forging a series of letters relating to his appointment as the Bishop of Miami.

Defendants moved to dismiss based on the "church autonomy doctrine," arguing that Belya's suit would impermissibly involve the courts in matters of faith, doctrine, and internal church government. The district court denied the motion. Defendants then filed a motion for reconsideration and a motion to limit discovery to the issue of whether the church autonomy doctrine applied or otherwise to stay proceedings. The district court denied those motions as well. Defendants appeal from the three interlocutory rulings.

Appellate jurisdiction typically requires either a final judgment, 28 U.S.C. § 1291, or a certified interlocutory appeal, 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). The district court denied Defendants' motions without entering a final judgment (the case is pending in the district court, although proceedings have been stayed) and declined to certify an interlocutory appeal. Defendants argue that we have appellate jurisdiction based on the collateral order doctrine, which allows for appellate review of an interlocutory order if the ruling (1) is conclusive; (2) resolves important questions separate from the merits; and (3) is effectively unreviewable on appeal after a final judgment is entered.

We hold that the collateral order doctrine does not apply in the circumstances here. We therefore dismiss this appeal.

BACKGROUND

A. The Facts

This case hinges on public accusations that Belya forged certain documents relating to his role within ROCOR. The facts as alleged in Belya's amended complaint (the "Complaint") are assumed to be true for purposes of this appeal.

1. Belya's Apparent Election as Bishop

Belya served as a ROCOR priest in the Czech Republic and Slovakia before moving to the United States eleven years ago. He served in the United States as a ROCOR priest until September 14, 2019, when he was suspended pending an investigation into the matters discussed below.

As set forth in the Complaint, Belya was elected by the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR (the "Synod") -- the executive arm of ROCOR -- to the position of Bishop of Miami. The election was held from December 6 through 10, 2018.

Defendant-appellant Hilarion Kapral, also known as Metropolitan Hilarion, was the "ruling bishop and First Hierarch" of ROCOR. Defs.-Appellants' Br. at 5.¹ Metropolitan Hilarion apparently wrote a letter dated December 10, 2018 (the "December 10 letter") to Patriarch Kirill, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, which stated:

I am happy to share the joyful news – by a majority vote two Vicar Bishops have been elected to the diocese entrusted to me. They are most worthy candidates.

....

[Candidates include] Archimandrite Alexander (Belya) ... elected as the Bishop of Miami.

Joint App'x at 92. According to the Complaint, the December 10 letter was signed by Metropolitan Hilarion and stamped with his official seal.

That same day, Metropolitan Hilarion also sent a letter to Belya, explaining that there were certain corrections that Belya needed to make to his practices. The Synod designated Archbishop Gavriil to report on Belya's implementation of these corrections. In early January 2019 (the "early January letter"), Archbishop Gavriil wrote to Metropolitan Hilarion, stating that:

I do not see any obstacles to approv[ing] the date of consecration of [Belya], elected as the Vicar Bishop for Miami, of which I hereby inform Your Eminence.

Id. at 93. Soon thereafter, on January 11, 2019 (the "January 11 letter"), Metropolitan Hilarion wrote again to Patriarch Kirill, stating as follows:

I hereby ask Your Holiness to approve [Belya's] candidacy at the next meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Id. at 94. Like the December 10 letter, the January 11 letter apparently was signed by Metropolitan Hilarion and stamped with his official seal.

On July 16, 2019, Belya had an audience with Patriarch Kirill. Six weeks later, on August 30, 2019, the Moscow Patriarchate's official website posted the decision to approve Belya's appointment. On that same day, Metropolitan Hilarion congratulated Belya via phone call.

2. The Allegations of Forgery and Fraud

Four days later, on September 3, 2019, several ROCOR clergy members² wrote a letter about Belya to the Synod and Metropolitan Hilarion (the "September 3 letter"). The September 3 letter was disseminated to all thirteen members of the Synod and forwarded to other members of ROCOR, including parishes, churches, monasteries, and other institutions, as well as online media outlets. It raised concerns about purportedly irregular aspects of Belya's "confirmation by [ROCOR] ... as Bishop of Miami." Id. at 95. The alleged irregularities related to the December 10, early January, and January 11 letters.

First, the September 3 letter asserted that even though the December 10 and January 11 letters appeared to have been signed and stamped with his seal, Metropolitan Hilarion "knew nothing about the written [letters] directed to Moscow." Id. (emphasis omitted). The September 3 letter further alleged that "as stated by His Eminence [Metropolitan Hilarion]," the letters "were drawn up in an irregular manner." Id. (emphasis omitted). It mentioned the absence of an "appropriate citation" from the Synod's decision and the lack of a biography of those elected. Id . at 95-96. Second, the September 3 letter stated that the early January letter "raises doubts as well," specifically because the early January letter was not printed on Archbishop Gavriil's "official letterhead." Id. at 96 (emphasis omitted).

The September 3 letter requested that, considering the allegations, Belya be suspended from clerical functions and barred from election candidacy. That same day, Metropolitan Hilarion issued an order to Belya suspending him from his position and responsibilities. Soon after, on September 16, 2019, Metropolitan Hilarion issued a public decree suspending Belya pending a formal investigation recommended in the September 3 letter. The decree also prohibited members of Belya's parish from communicating with him.

On September 16, 2019, a clergy member³ posted about the dispute over Belya's confirmation on the social media site of his church. The post read:

Alleged ROCOR episcopal nominee Fr. Alexander Belya, already confirmed by the ROC Synod, had not been elected by the ROCOR Synod and a letter informing about [sic] his nomination sent to Moscow was a forgery. The priest in question was suspended, internal investigation was started.

Id. at 98. Various religious news outlets and publications also publicly circulated news of the controversy. Orthodox News , for example, reposted the statement. Helleniscope ,...