Can one sue the church for acts of God?

No… well, you can try, if you want to donate money to lawyers and courts, but which court do you suppose you’d like to try? Your local court, which has no jurisdiction over the Pope or God, and will probably notice you’re not really suing the church if they don’t just toss out your case immediately?

The Pope is head of state of the Vatican City State, which does have its own judicial system with a few levels. You could try to sue there, but I’m confident they’ll be even clearer that you’re being silly. At best they’ll give you some words of theological perspective suggest you take it up with a priest.

Can we sue the Republicans for acts of Trump?

People have tried, including a US Senator (who did it to make a political point), but the suits are always dismissed for one reason or another.

I remember (this was years ago) somebody in, I think, Alabama, bringing to court a suit against God for breach of contract.

Don’t remember how the court ruled, but I’m guessing the guy didn’t collect.

I would think that anyone who wanted to bring a suit such as you suggest would have to show satisfactory evidence that the church they chose to sue was indeed the designated representative of God. If you could establish that for any one of them, I imagine they’d be happy to honor your bill.

Of course, you’d also be responsible for ruining an awful lot of righteous warriors’ causes and pretexts for warfare. They might not thank you for that.

I’d be happy if someone made churches pay taxes. We can talk lawsuits later…

The standard line as I understand runs something like this. This is the best of all possible worlds. The Universe was created for us and we are all created in God’s image. Everything happens for a reason, though the reason may be beyond our comprehension. It is all part of God’s plan. Transgressors will be punished, either in this world or the next. Those who are faithful will live in eternal bliss.

What basis could there possibly be for a lawsuit?

Can you sue fishermen for acts of Cod?

No. First of all you would need to prove that “God” exists, which is impossible.

@kritiper Actually, I don’t think so. Property insurance policies rule out coverage for “acts of God” and I doubt anyone has been able to sue on the grounds of “prove he exists first.”

@janbb Needless to say, I think it would come down to that.

@janbb – I think that @RedDeerGuy1 posed the question differently.

The pope is acting as god’s agent (in the litigation sense, the pope is the designated legal representative) designated by the Catholic Church to act and speak for God. The Catholic Church has a huge hierarchy of people (Bishops, cardinals, etc.) and 2000 years of history (and the ecclesiastical courts) that have affirmed that the pope is the manifestation of god on earth.

The primacy of the Roman bishop is largely derived from his role as the supposed apostolic successor to Saint Peter, to whom Jesus is said to have given the Keys of Heaven and the powers of “binding and loosing”, naming him as the “rock” upon which the church would be built.

So if you buy the idea that the Catholic Church and the pope are in fact the duly authorized representatives of god, then logically and legally, the pope could be held liable (or at least subpoenaed) for acts of god.

The question is far less about whether god exists or not, and far more about who represents god on earth.

Oh yeah. I got that. I was just responding to @kritiper. A diversion for sure but this is in Social.

One could probably sue some church for acts of God as easily as one could sue the environment for acts of Mother Nature. Same difference.

God yes sue, but why bother if it’s just a plain tiff. You could sort it out when next you meet.

There was an Australian film (2001) called The Man Who Sued God a comedy starring Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. Connolly plays a disgruntled lawyer who filed a suit against the Almighty when his fishing boat was wrecked by an “Act of God”.