[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette] 17 Mar 2008--The leader of the Episcopal Church will poll bishops nationally next month in an effort to move the possible deposition of Pittsburgh Bishop Robert W. Duncan Jr. ahead to May.
While Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's reasons have not been made public, the impact of accelerating the deposition could be far reaching not only for Bishop Duncan but the entire worldwide Anglican Communion.
If the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops were to depose Bishop Duncan -- essentially defrocking him for abandoning the communion of the church for his efforts to move the Pittsburgh diocese out of the American church to a more conservative province within the worldwide Anglican Communion -- then the Archbishop of Canterbury would have to decide whether to disinvite him to this summer's once-a-decade meeting in Lambeth, England of all bishops in the worldwide church.
Bishop Duncan is widely recognized throughout the communion as a leader of those upset with actions in the past few years of the American church, such as same-sex blessings and the consecration of an openly gay bishop. He is moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, an alliance of biblically traditional dioceses and parishes that comprises about 10 percent of the Episcopal Church's 111 dioceses and 2.2 million members.
The bishop is also a key broker between conservative Episcopalians and the leaders of millions of Anglicans in Africa, Asia and South America who also disagree with the actions of the American church.
No comments:
Post a Comment