MILWAUKEE — An important decision on the separation of church and state was issued July 30, 2013, by United States District Court Judge Rudolph Randa. Randa ruled that the decades old practice of putting a portion of the money received from cemetery lot and mausoleum sales into trust for the perpetual care of those cemetery sites could not be undone for the benefit of claimants in bankruptcy proceedings.
Because these funds were held in trust as prescribed by Canon Law, they were independent of the general assets and could only be used for their intended and pledged purpose — to care for the resting places of the departed as sacred places under Canon law. As the judge said, “removing some or all of these funds from the trust and placing them in the bankruptcy estate would undoubtedly put “substantial pressure” on Archbishop [Jerome] Listecki to “modify [his] behavior” and “violate [his] beliefs”.