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Legal Maneuvers Ahead of Realignment Vote By Pittsburgh Episcopal Diocese

By Howard M. Friedman

In Pittsburgh (PA), Episcopal Bishop Robert Duncan has moved up the date for the the annual Diocesan Convention to October 4, at which time delegates will vote on three resolutions (full text) that would withdraw the Pittsburgh diocese from the Episcopal Church and affiliate it with the more conservative Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. In advance of that vote, a number of legal maneuvers have taken place. One parish, Calvary Episcopal Church, has been challenging Duncan's move since it filed a lawsuit in state court in 2003. Episcopal News Service yesterday reported on the complicated developments.

In its lawsuit, Calvary (in 2005) obtained a court order prohibiting the diocese from transferring any property to any entity outside the Episcopal Church. So this April, Duncan formed a new Pennsylvania corporation named the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, apparently intending to have it take custody of diocese assets if the realignment is approved. (Episcopal News Service, July 11). In response, Calvary has filed a petition with the court asking it to appoint a monitor to assure that its 2005 order is being complied with, or alternatively, giving Calvary's attorney access to the financial books and records of the diocese. Meanwhile, Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh, a group opposing Duncan's moves, has issued a document titled Frequently Asked Questions About Realignment.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on July 11, 2008 (boomark / email).