A former priest of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, Bishop Moyer was inhibited and then deposed on Sept. 4, 2002. by Bishop Bennison under Title IV Canon 10 “Abandonment of Communion” for refusing Bishop Bennison permission to make a visitation at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, a Philadelphia suburb. This dispute was grounds for use of the canon, Bishop Bennison argued, as the Rosemont rector had “abandoned the Communion of this Church” by an “open renunciation of the”¦discipline”¦of this church.”
Lawyers for Bishop Bennison argued the court should dismiss the lawsuit saying the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Pennsylvania case law discouraged state interference in internal church disputes.
Bishop Moyer’s lawyers countered that equity and justice required a trial as Bishop Bennison had improperly used a canon to remove him from the ministry that did not provide for a church trial or redress. They further argued Bishop Bennison had misled the standing committee, which had affirmed the deposition, by fraudulently withholding documents necessary for their deliberations.
Supposedly this comes to trial very soon…possibly even this week.
How will this affect the TEC and Bishop Duncan?
I don’t get it…these articles are all from Jan 25, 2007, very old indeed….so is the news that the trial will be soon, or what? Clarification, please. Thanks.
The date “Jan 25, 2007” does seem a bit suspect! Could it be a typographical error? Could the actual date be JUN 25, 2008? One wonders.
Ooops, on second thought, it couldn’t! What’s going on here? Any ideas, elves?
I’m guessing the problem is that for whatever reason, the article showed up as having been updated and thus came up with a new date in something like a Google news feed. Kendall must not have noticed the original date and thought it was a new story. This happens from time to time. I can think of two or three other instances. Sorry for the confusion. –elfgirl