American Freedom Law Center Joins Catholics vs. Genoa Twp. Religious Freedom Battle
The American Freedom Law Center is entering the battle for a Catholic “place of serenity and prayer” in Genoa Twp., Michigan.
“We’ve been retained by Catholic Healthcare International to challenge Genoa Twp’s ridiculous rejection of their special land use application to build a chapel, and a prayer campus on their 40 acres of land that was donated to them by the Diocese,” attorney Robert Muise confirmed.
Muisse, the Ann Arbor-based AFLC co-founder, focuses on cases advancing and defending religious liberty and freedom of speech, said Genoa Twp. Trustees violated the federal Religious Land Use Institutionalized Persons Act.
The Religious Land Use Act, passed unanimously by the U.S. House of Representatives and approved unanimously by the U.S. Senate, was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 2000. The act protects churches and other religious institutions from zoning law restrictions on their property.
The federal act also defines the term “religious exercise” to include “any exercise of religion, whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief.”
“I don’t see how this isn’t an absolute plain violation of that statute in addition to their other constitutional rights,” Muisse said during a talk to Livingston Men on Fire at Holy Spirit Catholic Church near Brighton.
Township trustees rejected a plan to build a small 6,090-square-foot chapel and 38 parking spaces on the 40-acre campus, citing neighbor complaints.
The new adoration chapel, when completed, would join a new natural outdoor prayer grotto supported by prayer groups worldwide. Still, township residents have even complained about the grotto, saying it could attract “busloads of Catholics” from outside the area.
Prayer is the base of all plans leading to the ultimate Padre Pio plans, including:
- A future second phase would begin a Terri Shiavo Rehabilitation Center for Brain Injured.
- A fully Catholic hospital and a Catholic medical school modeled after the Vatican-run facility begun by Padre Pio would follow as fundraising support progresses.
The Diocese of Lansing bought the Genoa Twp. decades ago, knowing the zoning allowed for a church on the property. The diocese planned a potential future parish (Livingston County was Michigan’s fastest-growing county). Bishops scrapped plans for a new parish after numerous factory closings and an economic “winter that never ends” hit Michigan starting in 2000.
In 2019, Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing and nationally-known Cardinal Raymond Burke blessed a Catholic Healthcare International plan to bring St. Padre Pio’s idea of “faithful Catholic healthcare” to America.
Boyea gifted the site to the St. Padre Pio group. Livingston Catholics have been actively involved with the effort, already praying at the site and walking its wooded trails.
The Genoa Twp. Board of Trustees, responding to “not in my backyard” neighbors who prefer the land remain undeveloped, voted down plans for a small adoration chapel (replicating one built by Padre Pio, also known as St. Pio of Pietrelcina) on a 5–2 vote on May 3 after every other public board approved the plans.
“We have no intention of turning away from St. Padre Pio’s call,” Jere Palazzolo, President of Catholic Healthcare International, said in an email to supporters.
On Tuesday, May 25, the birthday of the much-admired Padre Pio (1887–1968), Cardinal Burke will return to the Genoa Twp. campus to personally bless it before celebrating Mass at Holy Spirit Catholic Church on Winans Lake Road near Brighton.
Muisse specializes in constitutional litigation and has a long track record of challenging governmental attempts to limit or restrict the religious freedom of individuals.
Before launching the AFLC, he was a senior counsel for the Ann Arbor-based Thomas Moore Law Center, started by Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, whose philanthropic efforts focus on advancing Catholicism.
Muise gained fame litigating the first Constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
He also successfully defended Christian missionaries arrested for “breach of the peace.” The Christians attempted to evangelize at an Arab festival in Dearborn.
In May 2011, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Muisse’s favor, saying it was unreasonable for city police to restrict Christians from distributing religious literature to Muslims at the city’s annual Arab International Festival.
In 2020, he repeatedly challenged Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s lockdown restrictions during the pandemic, winning the first easing of orders so outdoor political protests would be exempted after Detroit police initially detained pro-life protesters outside abortion clinics.
His victories also included a personal one, where the state acknowledged religious gatherings could be held in private homes to gather his large family together to celebrate Mass. At the time, the state was discouraging “house to house” visits.
Muise, the father of 12 children, served 13 years in the Marines, including time during the Persian Gulf War. While serving as a captain on active duty, he also attended Notre Dame Law School, graduating at the top of his class.
In 2002, he successfully challenged the Ann Arbor Public Schools for violating the rights of a Catholic high school student, saying her rights to express her Catholic views during the school’s “diversity week” had been restricted after school officials said her viewpoint presented a “negative” message that could “water-down” the “positive” message they wanted.
Quoting former Michigan priest John Hardon, who is being considered for sainthood, Muise stressed, “To live the authentic Catholic life, you must live the life a martyr.”
