Legal opinion backs case for action against US Presiding Bishop

There is a prima facie case for bringing the US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to trial before a church tribunal for abuse of office, a legal memorandum commissioned by a group of concerned American bishops and church leaders has found. But whether the bishops have the political will to act is unclear, the paper concluded.

Prepared by an international lawyer in response to a request for an independent opinion as to the legality of Bishop Schori’s actions, and their implications for the polity of the Episcopal Church, the April 21 memorandum concludes the Presiding Bishop deliberately and with full knowledge and forethought “subverted” the “fundamental polity” of the Episcopal Church in her takeover of the Diocese of San Joaquin.

The Presiding Bishop had also committed a “wilful violation of the canons, an intention to repeat the violations and a pattern of concealment and lack of candour” in her attempts to depose Bishops Robert Duncan, John-David Schofield and William Cox, the paper said. Read more
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