Monahan v. Sims

• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: BIRDSONG; McMURRAY, P. J., and BANKE
• Citation: Monahan v. Sims, 294 S.E.2d 548, 163 Ga.App. 354 (Ga. App. 1982)
• Decision Date: 07 September 1982
• Docket Number: 64015 and 64220,Nos. 64014,s. 64014
• Parties: MONAHAN v. SIMS et al. SIMS et al. v. MONAHAN. HUDSON v. MONAHAN.

Page 548

294 S.E.2d 548

163 Ga.App. 354

MONAHAN v. SIMS et al.

SIMS et al. v. MONAHAN.

HUDSON v. MONAHAN.

Nos. 64014, 64015 and 64220.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Sept. 7, 1982.

Lawrence B. Custer, Jud E. McNatt, Marietta, for Monahan in no. 64014.

Eugene P. Chambers, Jr., Clyde E. Rickard, III, Atlanta, for Simms in No. 64014 and for Hudson in No. 64220.

Daryll Love, Anthony L. Cochran, Allen S. C. Willingham, Atlanta, for Sims in Nos. 64014, 64015.

Margie Pitts Hames, Atlanta, William Stringfellow, Block Island, R.I., Lawrence B. Custer, Jud E. McNatt, Marietta, for Monahan in No. 64015.

Margie Pitts Hames, Anthony L. Cochran, Edward E. Augustine, Atlanta, Lawrence B. Custer, Jud E. McNatt, Marietta, for Monahan in No. 64220.

BIRDSONG, Judge.

Jurisdiction over Ecclesiastical Matters. This case initially came before this court as a motion for interlocutory appeal, which this court granted. The issue presented therein related to jurisdiction over a Cobb County resident by a Fulton County Court where all resident Fulton County defendants had won summary judgment. Before this court acted, the trial court granted summary judgment to all defendants, whereupon a final appeal was made by the plaintiff-appellee, Ms. Monahan. The granted interlocutory appeal has thus been mooted and we proceed to the merits of the appeal of the plaintiff-appellant and cross appeals of the defendant-appellees. The three appeals have resulted in approximately a 1,750-page record and 12 voluminous briefs. From this wealth of material, this court has distilled the following procedural path to this court.

The appellant in the main appeal, Evelyn Monahan, is a professor of parapsychology at Georgia State University. She has written several books on psychic phenomenon. She makes claims to psychic powers including telekinesis, clairvoyance, and telepathy. There is evidence that she has attended at least one seance. Ms. Monahan was formerly of the Roman Catholic faith. She transferred her allegiance to the Episcopalian denomination in 1977. Ms. Monahan became involved in the experiment in ministry program of the Episcopal church seeking ordination as a priest in the Episcopalian ministry. In September, 1978, she was assigned as a senior seminarian to St. David's Parish in the Atlanta Diocese of the Episcopal church. Her immediate supervisor in this parish was Rev. Kendrick, the parish priest. During this early observation period, Ms. Monahan was informed by the director of the experiment in ministry program that, in his opinion, Ms. Monahan was not suitable for priesthood. Also the Presiding Bishop of the Atlanta Diocese, Bishop Sims, expressed to Ms. Monahan his concern about Ms. Monahan's apparent preoccupation with the occult. The chairman of the commission on ministry (which commission passed upon the qualifications and recommended the ordination or non-ordination of priests in the Atlanta Diocese), Rev. Johnson, cautioned Ms. Monahan that her collegial relationships, her understanding and obedience to Anglican traditions, and to male church authority were matters of concern.

Nevertheless, in January, 1979, Ms. Monahan was admitted to the status of postulancy, the first step toward ordination as a priest. While initially the commission on ministry would not recommend Ms. Monahan for the status of postulancy, at the behest of the presiding bishop (Sims), she was admitted to that status.

During her postulancy, Ms. Monahan's supervising priest (Kendrick) became ill and temporarily was suspended from his priestly duties at St. David Parish. Ms. Monahan was then transferred to another parish under the supervision of Rev. Driesbach to continue her period of postulancy. At the time of this transfer, Bishop Sims and Ms. Monahan discussed possible assignments and salaries should the commission on ministry recommend her elevation to the priesthood.

Toward the end of June, 1979, Bishop Sims asked Rev. Kendrick, Ms. Monahan's first supervisor, who was then recuperating from his illness, to assist Bishop Sims' inquiry into Ms. Monahan's preoccupation with exorcism. Kendrick furnished Sims two names, both male acquaintances of Ms. Monahan who were aware of her involvement with parapsychology and related disciplines. Bishop Sims furnished these names to the chairman of the commission on ministry, Rev. Johnson. Bishop Sims further instructed Rev. Johnson to inquire into Ms. Monahan's suitability for the ministry. Johnson contacted one of the men identified to him by Bishop Sims and was informed by this man that Ms. Monahan "would make trouble for the church and was involved in black magic." The second gentlemen referred Rev. Johnson to several other persons including Jane Hudson and a Mr. Cahill. Cahill, upon contact, stated his only reservation was that Ms. Monahan was involved with another woman. Ms. Hudson expressed a reservation in that she believed Ms. Monahan had been engaged in a homosexual relationship with a married woman and that Monahan was capable of "negative mind power," an euphemism for casting spells as a witch.

At this point Rev. Johnson reported his tentative findings to Bishop Sims. Bishop Sims discussed the implications of these findings with the administrative bishop of the parish, Bishop Childs and Rev. Johnson. It was decided to disclose and discuss these reports with Ms. Monahan. When presented with these reports Ms. Monahan threatened to go to court. Bishop Sims indicated that the information also should be presented to the commission on ministry so that it could evaluate the sources as well as the information. Ms. Monahan expressed no objection to the release of the information to the commission on ministry. Later that same day, with Ms. Monahan present, the commission on ministry met and heard the substance of the reports as well as an earlier report that Ms. Monahan had committed a battery on a woman. At this meeting and upon the insistence of Ms. Monahan, the commission was asked to announce immediately whether it would recommend Ms. Monahan for elevation to the priesthood. At this time, the commission announced its concern over the failure of the director of the experiment in ministry program initially to recommend Ms. Monahan for postulancy, Ms. Monahan's alleged difficulty in adhering to Anglican dogma, and her difficulty in fully cooperating with male church authority.

When the commission stated it was not in a position at that time to recommend her to elevation to priesthood, Ms. Monahan threatened a "gigantic libel suit." Ms. Monahan was not removed from her position as a postulant nor was she accused of any misconduct by the church authorities. She was not denied irrevocably (or otherwise) ultimate admission to the priesthood. Because she was still in a probationer's status, her two superiors, Rev. Kendrick and Rev. Driesbach were informed of the nature of the report and the commission on ministry's interim decision not to elevate Ms. Monahan to the priesthood.

Ms. Monahan brought the present suit against the pastoral and administrative bishops, Sims and Childs; the chairman of the commission on ministry, Rev. Johnson; the supervisor under whom she first worked as a postulant, Rev. Kendrick; the witness, Jane Hudson; and the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta (i. e., the church), alleging defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and breach of contract or interference with her employment.

The facts show that Jane Hudson (a member of the Episcopal Church) is a medium who apparently has a substantial reputation as a clairvoyant. Ms. Monahan had visited Hudson while researching a book Monahan was authoring on parapsychology. Two women accompanied Ms. Monahan to a scheduled seance. Hudson claimed that during this visit Monahan and one of the women discussed an on-going homosexual relationship. Also Hudson claimed to recognize Ms. Monahan (like herself) as one capable of exercising negative mind power. At the time Hudson responded to Rev. Johnson's telephone inquiry, she had been made aware of the nature of the subject matter and indicated a fear of Ms. Monahan's negative mind power (spellbinding power). For these reasons she demanded and was assured that her comments would be confidential and that the information would be used for the limited purpose of the inquiry into the eligibility of Ms. Monahan's elevation to the priesthood.

Upon motion for summary judgment by the defendants that the matter was an ecclesiastical matter and not within the jurisdiction of a civil court, the trial court denied summary judgment on that ground but granted summary judgment to the ecclesial defendants on the ground that there had been no publication outside of ecclesial circles. Subsequently, because all the ecclesial defendants were resident in Fulton County and Ms. Hudson was a resident of Cobb County, the court also granted summary judgment to Ms. Hudson for failure of venue over the sole remaining defendant who was a resident of Cobb County. Ms. Monahan brings the main appeal contesting the grant of summary judgment to all defendants (Case No. 64014); the ecclesial defendants cross...