My wife and I have been strong supporters of the Sisters of Mercy for some time now and so we are following a case where a Texas Bishop has "seized control" on a Mercy run hospital, excommunicated the Mercy nun serving as the hospital's president and forbidden Catholic patients in the hospital to receive communion. Now much of this, regardless of its obvious (and odious) hypocrisy is legal under cannon law. What I wondered is where cannon law comes into conflict with, oh let's say corporate or civil (property, for example)law which has precedence in the US. Forget Italy. Any knowledge of precedence?