Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has made public a letter of warning she sent earlier this evening to Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh who she accuses of using his diocesan convention to disaffiliate legally from The Episcopal Church.

“I call upon you to recede from this direction and to lead your diocese on a new course that recognizes the interdependent and hierarchical relationship between the national Church and its dioceses and parishes,” Bishop Jefferts Schori wrote, adding that she would seek to put Bishop Duncan on trial before the House of Bishops if he failed to heed her warning.

Letters to other bishops seeking similar changes from their convention are to follow, according to Episcopal News Service.

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