After nearly a decade of litigation and several prior court decisions, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals has ruled that the doctrine of religious abstention prevents it from deciding competing claims for control of the Unification Church originally founded by Reverend Sun Myung Moon in 1954. The fight for control began shortly after Rev. Moon died in 2012 at the age of 92. On one side is Rev. Moon’s eldest living son, Dr. Hyun Jim (Preston) Moon, whom Rev. Moon had once declared his spiritual successor. According to the Court, Preston views the Church as an interfaith movement and wants it to grow as a non-denominational and decentralized religion, a course that Rev. Moon had once...