In response to an April 14 filing in the141st District Court, brought by The Episcopal Church and Episcopal leaders who have reorganized an Episcopal diocese in the Fort Worth, Texas, area, the former Episcopal diocese now affiliated with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone filed a motion to dismiss May 8 on grounds that the court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction.
 
“We hope this response will bring an end to the sad process that threatens to bring two groups of Christians to court against one another,” says Dr. Franklin Salazar, president of the corporation of the diocese.
 
The 12-page response contains the motion to dismiss, followed by the original answer to the plaintiffs’ petition, then a request for disclosures. In a separate statement, Bishop Jack Iker said that the special meeting held Feb. 7, 2009, to form the reorganized diocese was not called in accordance with the diocesan constitution and canons, making any litigation based on that meeting null and void.
 
The motion asks the court to take “judicial notice” based on citations from the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church that, among other things, The Episcopal Church is a voluntary association of dioceses and is not hierarchical above the level of the diocese.
 
Responding to the specific claims in the April 14 petition, the motion asks the court to confirm that the leadership of the diocese and corporation have not changed since the diocese last met in convention in November 2008. That being the case, it asserts, the diocese cannot sue itself.
 
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