HYATTSVILLE, Md. — The Supreme Court of Maryland has ruled that a former Eritrean Orthodox bishop has no legal right to remain in a church-owned Hyattsville residence, reversing lower court decisions that dismissed the case over concerns about judicial involvement in a religious dispute.
The July 23, 2026, opinion directs the case back to the District Court of Maryland in Prince George’s County for judgment to be entered in favor of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Diocese of U.S.A. and Canada, Inc.
The dispute involves a property at 812 Chillum Road that the religious corporation purchased in 2011 and used as a parsonage for the church’s bishop of the United States and Canada.
Abune Sinoda Tafla, who was appointed bishop in 2005, has lived at the property since it was purchased.
The church’s Holy Synod removed Sinoda as bishop in 2016. The corporation subsequently asked him to leave the residence, but he refused, arguing that the Synod was illegitimate and lacked the authority to remove him.
Sinoda maintained that he remained the church’s rightful bishop and therefore retained the right to live in the parsonage.
The corporation filed a wrongful detainer action seeking possession of the property, along with $20,000 in damages and $10,000 in attorney’s fees.
A Prince George’s County District Court dismissed the case after concluding that deciding who had the right to control the property would require the court to interpret church law and determine the legitimacy of Sinoda’s removal.
The Circuit Court for Prince George’s County affirmed that decision.
Maryland’s highest court disagreed, finding that the case could be resolved through neutral principles of property law without deciding whether the church properly defrocked Sinoda.
The court noted that the corporation holds legal title to the property and that no lease, employment agreement or church governing document granted the sitting bishop a legally enforceable right to occupy the residence.
Sinoda did not pay rent, and the corporation never recognized him as a tenant with an exclusive right to possess the property, according to the opinion.
The court determined that Sinoda occupied the residence as a licensee rather than a tenant. Under Maryland law, a property owner may revoke a license to occupy property by asking the occupant to leave.
The corporation repeatedly requested that Sinoda vacate the property, including through a final notice delivered in July 2024 that ordered him to leave by July 28, 2024.
The corporation filed its latest wrongful detainer action the following month.
“The ecclesiastical abstention doctrine has no application to this case because Respondent’s right to possess the Property does not turn on whether he is the Church’s rightful Bishop of the United States and Canada,” the court concluded.
The ruling reverses the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County and directs that the case be returned to District Court for further proceedings.
The District Court must still address the corporation’s requests for damages and attorney’s fees.
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