Yesterday, its 10 members issued a brief letter explaining that its "agonizing" decision "followed years of repeated attempts at reasoning with the bishop about fiscal management and trust matters."

Committee members said they were not accusing Bennison of any fiscal malfeasance but complained that he has relied too heavily on diocesan trust funds to pay for operating expenses and capital ventures.

"It is our belief that at least $11.6 million has been spent from diocesan trust funds over the past few years," the committee wrote. "At this point we do not know whether we have $4 million or zero available trust funds to fund the 2006 budget."

They also complained that endowment funds "have been used and are gone that had previously provided income for our on-going ministries."

The standing committee - the top administrative board of the 65,000-member diocese, which takes in Philadelphia and the four suburban counties - cannot order the bishop's removal.

And Bennison - diocesan bishop here since 1998 - rejected its request last week.

Instead, he invited the standing committee and the rest of the diocese to engage in a "rigorous long-term process for addressing our problems."

Yesterday, the Rev. Mary Laney, vice president of the committee, reiterated its call for Bennison's resignation. "We hope he will come to see that this is the best thing," she said in a telephone interview.

She noted that only fiscal malfeasance or immorality would allow a standing committee to seek a bishop's dismissal before a canonical court, and that there was no evidence of that here.

Laney, who has served on the committee for nine years, said the committee's principal quarrel with the bishop has been his reliance on endowment money to finance the purchase and improvements of 618 acres on Maryland's Chesapeake Bay for use as a retreat and children's camp, Camp Wapiti.

Under a heading titled "Trust," the committee's letter further argued that Bennison failed to mount a diocesan capital campaign in a timely fashion, adding that "we believe that we were misled about the basis upon which capital projects would be funded."

Bennison did not return a request for comment yesterday. Last week, he defended the use of endowment money to buy Camp Wapiti, saying it had been an "extraordinary opportunity" that demanded an immediate response.

He predicted that the camp and retreat center would ultimately generate revenues to the diocese beyond what the endowment funds were earning. Contact staff writer David O'Reilly at 215-854-5723 or doreilly@phillynews.com.

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