Last I heard, the Episcopal parishes in VA that bolted from the ECUSA Diocese in Richmond got to keep the property as that of the parish. Two of them are the largest, wealthiest in the Commonwealth, too. Tho, I have to admit, I haven’t followed it in the past few months.
Have no idea what the story is in Maryland, but under US Supreme Court precedent individual parishes in "hierarchical" churches are pretty much behind the 8 ball.
You are correct; Truro and Falls Church, the two great parishes of Virginia have won their court battles (along with nine other churches) and have departed the Episcopalian church.
I might think that a parish might have more difficulty than a convent. Among Catholics, a parish is a part of a diocese; a convent is not. I would think that among anyone, if a diocese were to agree to anything, the parish would likely be part of such an agreement, so if a diocese accepts the Denis canon, than the parish, by remaining affiliated with the diocese, probably could be said to be partaking in whatever covenant exists. But how would a convent affirm or reject such a document? The order could; the convent could; but did anyone force the order or the convent to do so?
If the order signed onto the Dennis canon, the ECUSA could have an argument, I suppose that the convent, as a part of the order signed on. But if the order did not sign on, through what is the convent attached?
This is precisely the hierarchical problems that limited Bishop D’Arcy’s responses to Notre Dame. The most he could do would be to expel the order from his diocese, but the diocese, even in the Catholic church where the diocese really does directly own parishes, could not take ownership of the university.
As you wrote in a later post, the VA decisions were based solely on a civil war Virginia state statute, unfortunately. I believe that everywhere else in the nation the rulings have gone against the local parishes. I wish for the sake of this convent that it was located in VA.