Updated Tuesday morning
(Apologies for the lack of TA for about ten hours today.)
The Bishop of Pittsburgh, Robert Duncan has responded to the charges made against him earlier, as reported here.
His letter to the Presiding Bishop is in PDF format here.
His lawyer’s letter to the lawyer for the national church is in PDF format here.
The Pittsburgh diocesan news release is here.
Episcopal News Service has a detailed report: Duncan replies to charges of abandonment of communion with Episcopal Church. There is this explanation about what may happen next:
Diocese of North Carolina Bishop Michael Curry, one of the bishops who briefed the media on the March 12 sessions of the House of Bishops meeting, told ENS that very few of the bishops had read the lengthy certification of the charges against Duncan. Hence, he said, Jefferts Schori suggested that the material be sent to all bishops to read.
Curry said the Presiding Bishop then agreed that her office would poll the bishops about the advisability of convening a special meeting of the House in May 2008 or whether to consider the matter at the House’s already-scheduled September meeting. Curry predicted that the answer to the question may be based in large part on the logistics of coordinating all the bishops’ calendars to find a meeting time in May.
Lionel Deimel has written two analyses, see Duncan’s Defense and Legal Matters.
Thanks to Mr. Deimel for shedding light in his analysis of both the letters, from Duncan and from Duncan’s attorney. It will be interesting to follow the Duncan matter as it unfolds, not least because the case is a test of just how long and how far realignment spin doctoring about the faith once delivered to the saints can actually go under canonical-legal and other church life circumstances. I do admire Diemel’s noticing that Duncan believes we can change our believer minds about women, but for some reason cannot revisit our nasty evaluations of queer citizens who live, work, love,… Read more »
Your link in “The Pittsburgh diocesan news release is here” didn’t work for me–error message.
But thanks for covering this issue. Your roundup is valuable.
I can’t figure out what Bp. Dunkin’ means by his item #6 – but I’ve not had a chance to read Mr. Deimel’s explications.