The Diocese of San Joaquin and its Bishop, John-David Schofield, will not participate in any ecclesiastical disciplinary action brought against them by The Episcopal Church, according to statements released by the diocese and Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables, Primate of the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone.
“As of December 8, 2007 Bishop John-David Schofield is not under the authority or jurisdiction of The Episcopal Church or the Presiding Bishop,” Bishop Venables said. “He is, therefore, not answerable to their national canon law but is a member of the House of Bishops of the Southern Cone and under our authority.”
During its annual convention on Dec. 8, the diocese voted to dissolve its relationship with The Episcopal Church and affiliate with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone, which is based in Argentina. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori issued a temporary inhibition on Jan. 11 prohibiting Bishop Schofield from exercising sacramental acts pending a disciplinary hearing at the spring House of Bishops’ meeting. Bishop Schofield is charged with abandonment of communion with The Episcopal Church.
“The Diocese of San Joaquin continues to move forward, motivated by the momentous consensus of our convention in December,” the Rev. Canon William Gandenberger, canon to the ordinary, told The Living Church. “The Bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin is a member of the House of Bishops of the Southern Cone of South America and under their authority. Therefore, the actions of the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, in broken or impaired relations with more than half of that world-wide Communion, have no authority over our bishop or this diocese. Rather, Bishop Schofield continues to function in all the capacities of a bishop in good standing within the Southern Cone and the Anglican Communion.”
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2 Comments
The Episcopal Church USA claims jurisdiction in numerous areas outside of the USA such as Europe, Central America, and the Caribbean. I do not see how this will be any different!
Bishop Schofield, perhaps more than any bishop in the Episcopal Church of the USA, should know that TEC has its own rules regarding the discipline and inhibition of it's clergy and bishops.
To offer such resistance to a lawful request from the Presiding Bishop, while still protesting his membership of the Episcopal Church of USA, is surely a denial of his own understanding of what is required of continuing member-ship of TEC., which has legitimate canonical rights vis-a-vis the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
This double standard which he is promoting will surely affect any relationship he might actually have, or claim to have, with any other part of the world-wide Anglican Communion. Either Bp Schofield is a Bishop in TEC, and therefore subject to it's discipline, or he is not. If the latter, then he must leave his post as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.
For the Primate of the Southern Cone to encourage Bp. Schofield in his intransigence on this important issue, he, also, is signalling his own non-compliance with the Lambeth Quadrilateral, which he claims to be subject to.