Bankruptcy court may recover transfer to church cemetery trust

Neither the Religious Freedom Restoration Act nor the First Amendment precludes a bankruptcy court from recovering a $55 million transfer of funds from the general accounts of Archdiocese of Milwaukee to a separate trust for the maintenance of Catholic cemeteries, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held.  The Court has rejected a series of arguments from the Archbishop that the money had been set aside for perpetual care according to Canon Law.