A panel of bishops will proceed with an ecclesiastical trial of the Rt. Rev. William J. Cox, retired Bishop Suffragan of Maryland, on charges that he illegally performed sacramental acts without the permission of the local Episcopal bishop. News of the trial was announced during the March 16-21 meeting of the House of Bishops.

In June 2005, Bishop Cox, 86, ordained two priests and a deacon at Christ Church in Overland Park, Kan., after he was asked by the Primate of Uganda. The following month, Bishop Cox returned to Christ Church and led a service of confirmation.

In April 2005, Christ Church agreed to pay the Diocese of Kansas $1 million over the next 10 years as part of a separation agreement which allowed the congregation to retain its property, and for the clergy to be relieved of their canonical obligations to The Episcopal Church. Christ Church and its clergy subsequently affiliated with the Province of Uganda.

Bishop Cox served as Bishop Suffragan of Maryland from 1972 to 1980 and Assistant Bishop of Oklahoma, 1980-1988. He and his wife, Betty, now live in Tulsa.

Two bishops - the Rt. Rev. Dean Wolfe, Bishop of Kansas and the Rt. Rev. Robert Moody, Bishop of Oklahoma – presented Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold with documentation of the alleged canonical violations last summer. Bishop Griswold forwarded the charges to the Title IV [disciplinary] Review Committee, which recently completed its investigation, determining that there were sufficient grounds to proceed to trial.

The case will be sent to the Court for the Trial of a Bishop. If found guilty, punishment ranges from a verbal reprimand to permanent removal from the ordained ministry. Appeals are heard by the Court of Review for the Trial of a Bishop.

The House of Bishops received no news on two other ecclesiastical complaints. The standing committee in the Diocese of Pennsylvania filed a formal complaint last year against the Rt. Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Jr., Bishop of Pennsylvania, accusing him of withholding financial and legal information. Two years ago, a group of clergy and lay members in the Diocese of Connecticut filed charges against the Rt. Rev. Andrew Smith, Bishop of Connecticut, alleging that he acted improperly in removing the rector and vestry at St. John’s, Bristol. Bishop Smith is a member of the trial court that will hear the case against Bishop Cox.

Steve Waring

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