Bowen

Plaintiffs the Roman Catholic Bishop of . San Jose and Reverend Monsignor Francis V. Cilia appeal from a judgment denying their petition for a writ of mandate to (1) direct the Secretary of State (Secretary) to file the articles of incorporation of “Pastor of Santee Catholic Mission, a corporation sole,” (2) declare the Secretary violated the Administrative Procedure Act (Gov. Code, § 11340 et seq.; hereafter APA) by evaluating submitted articles pursuant to rules that are not authorized by law or promulgated pursuant to the APA, and (3) enjoin the Secretary from subjecting submitted articles to such rules. Plaintiffs contend the trial court erred in denying their petition because the Secretary’s “authority to review and file submitted articles of incorporation is strictly ministerial,” and, even assuming the Secretary has some discretionary authority in reviewing articles of incorporation prior to filing, such authority was repeatedly abused.

We shall conclude that the Secretary has a ministerial duty to file submitted articles of incorporation “[i]f they conform to law . . . .” (Corp. Code, § 10005.) We shall further conclude that the Secretary acted well within her…