THE BISHOP of San Joaquin, the Rt Revd John-David Schofield, whose diocese left the Episcopal Church in the United States to join the Province of the Southern Cone, has been inhibited by the Presiding Bishop, Dr Katharine Jefferts Schori, from working as a priest.
Inhibition is an interim measure. If Bishop Schofield does not recant his position or renounce his orders in 60 days, the House of Bishops could depose him by a majority decision at their March meeting.
After the diocese’s departure on 8 December, Dr Jefferts Schori asked Bishop Schofield to confirm her understanding that he had left the Episcopal Church and was no longer functioning as a member of its clergy (News, 21 December). The Title IV Review Committee met on 9 January, when a majority judged him to have “abandoned the communion of this Church by an open renunciation of the Doctrine, Discipline or Worship of this Church”.
As required, three senior bishops — Bishop Frade of Southeast Florida, Bishop Lee of Virginia, and Bishop Wimberley of Texas — issued the inhibition. Bishop Schofield responded that the charge was an admission by the Episcopal Church “that it rejected the historical Anglican faith”.
A statement issued on his behalf said: “It is the primary duty of bishops to guard the faith and Bishop Schofield has been continually discriminated against for having done so.” It described his status as “currently a member of both the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church and the House of Bishops of the Southern Cone”.
The Episcopal Church’s governing documents did not prohibit relationships between different members of the Anglican Communion: “rather, they encourage it.”
A statement from the Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone, the Most Revd Greg Venables, on 11 January, described Bishop Schofield as “not under the authority or jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church or the [US] Presiding Bishop. 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.”
The Bishop of Fort Worth, the Rt Revd Jack Iker, contended that the Episcopal Church could not discipline a bishop under another province’s jurisdiction, although he could be prevented from functioning in US Episcopalian congregations.
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