Please understand that this is the usual biased reporting that we have come to expect from pecusa. First, there is no pecusa Diocese of Pittsburgh. There are a handful of parishes that are seeking to become part of the pecusa Diocese of Northwest Pennsylvania. Archbishop Robert Duncan is a bishop of the Anglican Communion and not a former bishop as the pecusa shill states in the article below. The Diocese of Pittsburgh did leave pecusa by a legitimate vote of diocesan convention. If I went through all the inaccuracies of this report I would take up as much space as the article. So, read the article with the understanding that this is a highly biased report. ed.
By Mary Frances Schjonberg, October 06, 2009
[Episcopal News Service] A judge ruled October 6 that the organization headed by former Bishop Robert Duncan that left the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Pittsburgh in 2008 cannot continue to hold any diocesan assets.
On October 4, 2008 a majority of the delegates to the diocese's 143rd annual convention voted to approve a resolution by which the diocese purported to leave the Episcopal Church. The leaders of the diocese who departed have said that they remain in charge of an entity they call the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh (Anglican) that is now part of the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. And they say that in that capacity they control all the assets that were held by the diocese when they left.
The court, however, ruled that all diocesan assets must be held by the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh that is recognized by the Episcopal Church.
The suit arose out of a 2003 complaint by Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh after a special diocesan convention passed a resolution stating that all property in the diocese, which under Episcopal Church canons is held in trust by the diocese for the entire church, instead belonged to individual congregations or the diocese itself. The proceedings in the suit led to an October 2005 stipulated court order in which Duncan and the other then-leaders of the diocese agreed that the diocese would continue to hold or administer property "regardless of whether some or even a majority of the parishes in the Diocese might decide not to remain in the Episcopal Church of the United States of America."
That order defined "diocese" as the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America.
In its October 6 opinion Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph M. James explained that "regardless of what name the defendants now call themselves, they are not the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America." He ruled that the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh "did not cease to exist" because it was created by the Episcopal Church and the church now recognizes that those Episcopalians who did not follow Duncan now make up the Episcopal Church's continuing diocese.
James said that the facts that those Episcopalians who did not follow Duncan elected a "subsequent board of governance and appoint[ed] a successor to Bishop Duncan" and that those actions were recognized by the Episcopal Church "is further evidence that the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America never ceased to exist."
The Rev. Dr. James Simons, president of the diocesan Standing Committee, the ecclesiastical authority of the diocese, said that "this ruling supports our position all along that an agreement is an agreement, especially when entered in good faith and in a court of law."
"We must now focus on reconciliation and welcoming back anyone who wants to return to our Episcopal Diocese," said Simons. "We took this action to protect property that was entrusted to the Episcopal Church over generations. As stewards of that property, it was our gospel and moral responsibility to do so. It is also our responsibility to help restore relationships as we can."
When James' opinion was announced to the Episcopal Church's Executive Council meeting in Memphis, Tennessee, the members burst into applause.
The property held by or administered by the Pittsburgh diocese has been overseen by a "special master" appointed by the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas two days before Duncan's removal as a bishop of the Episcopal Church.
On October 6, James ordered all the parties in the lawsuit to meet with the special master, Pittsburgh attorney Stanley E. Levine and the Campbell & Levine law firm, within 30 days and report to the court within 20 days of that meeting with a report identifying the property that is involved.
James said he would then set up a process for "the orderly transition of possession, custody and control over said property," adding that he could continue to hold authority over the enforcement of the October 2005 order and the current one.
-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is Episcopal News Service national correspondent.
No comments:
Post a Comment