An order of Catholic nuns who believe in "the sacredness of Earth" is suing the federal agency that approved a natural gas pipeline that's expected to cross its property for violating its religious freedom.

The nuns, who allowed the construction of an outdoor chapel in the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline's path through Lancaster County, are in the midst of a separate battle to block Williams' seizure of the one-acre parcel via eminent domain.

"It's clear they take seriously their belief that the Earth is God's creation and it needs to be protected and preserved," said J. Dwight Yoder, the attorney representing the Adorers of the Blood of Christ in its case against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Earlier this year, FERC cleared the way for the pipeline's construction, including the condemnation of property in its path. The agency regulates natural gas pipelines and other energy infrastructure.

The nuns are invoking the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which states that "governments should not substantially burden religious exercise without compelling justification."

The act's most famous application was in the U.S. Supreme Court's 2014 Hobby Lobby decision, which permitted a religious exemption from a federal mandate requiring for-profit companies to offer contraceptive coverage to employees. Hobby Lobby's attorneys argued that the Affordable Care Act violated the corporation's religious beliefs.

"It's the same law," Yoder said, "it's just being applied to a setting where the federal government is allowing a company to condemn property. Our belief is the Adorers' land is an integral part of their religious life and belief."

The nuns filed suit in the U.S. Eastern District Court against FERC and its acting chair, Cheryl LaFleur.

"We do not comment on matters of pending litigation," FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen said Tuesday.

The nuns allowed a protest group, Lancaster Against Pipelines, to build the chapel in a cornfield on its land in West Hempfield Township, near a retirement community operated by the order. The chapel, which is comprised of a wooden arbor and pews, has since held several ceremonies there, garnering local and national media attention. The protest group has built several other structures in the pipeline's path.

Meanwhile, the Adorers are currently defending condemnation proceedings against the property. A hearing in that case took place Monday and will continue Thursday.

In court records, Williams stated that the appraised value of the 1.02-acre parcel was $109,740. Company spokesman Chris Stockton said it offered to pay more than the appraised value but he could not disclose the amount for privacy reasons.

"Our goal is to respect and treat every landowner fairly," he said, in a written statement, "and our team has been attempting to negotiate in good faith with the affected property owner for more than two years."

So far, Stockton said, the company has reached settlement agreements with the vast majority of the 1,000 landowners affected by the project.

"The Adorers represent 1 of less than 30 landowners with whom we have not yet finalized an agreement," he said.

Williams, he said, plans to raise several issues, including the Adorers' failure to participate in the FERC certification process, in the proper forum.

Stockton said the Adorers would retain ownership of the property. It could continue to use the land, currently leased to a tenant farmer for a cornfield, once the pipeline is buried three to five feet underground, he said.

"Once the easement is restored," he said. "There will be very little evidence that a pipeline is present."

Members of the order could not be reached for comment but, in a written statement, it said the use of the land for a fossil fuel pipeline "is antithetical to the Adorers' deeply held religious beliefs."

The Catholic order's opposition is guided by a "land ethic" adopted in 2005. That means that the nuns honor the sacredness of creation, reveres Earth as a sanctuary for all life and treasures land as a "gift of beauty and sustenance and legacy for future generations."

The $3 billion Atlantic Sunrise project calls for roughly 200 miles of new pipeline, the creation of two new compressor stations and various other infrastructure components to help push gas from the Marcellus Shale fields to markets along the eastern seaboard.

Once complete, newly extracted gas would flow into Williams' existing 10,500-mile Transco pipeline that runs from New York to the Gulf of Mexico.

Barring the kind of injunction sought by the Catholic nuns or other setbacks, Williams plans to to begin construction this fall.

The map below shows the location of the outdoor chapel.