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PITTSBURGH: Faux Episcopal Diocese Seeks Merger with Diocese of Northwestern PA
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
Sept. 18, 2009
The Potemkin Diocese of Pittsburgh, unable to sustain itself as a legitimate diocese, is seeking to reunite with the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania. In ecclesiastical terms it is called "juncturing."
According to a report from the diocese, this would be achieved under the provisions of Title I, canon 10, section 6 of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church, 2006.
The Assisting Bishop of the faux Diocese of Pittsburgh is The Rt. Rev. Robert H. Johnson. The Rt. Rev. Sean W. Rowe is the Bishop of Northwestern Pennsylvania.
A "Task Force on Reunion" has been asked to prepare a report on the results of that study. Any recommendations are to be made to the 145th Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, in the fall of 2010. The Task Force shall consider specifically the potential long-term impact of such reunion on the financial and administrative resources of the two dioceses, and shall invite the Bishop and Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania to participate in the study.
In an "explanation" as to why this might be necessary, the Task Force wrote that in both regions there has been a serious decline in both population and economics and that what was feasible in the early 20th Century is no longer feasible today. Therefore, a reunion of the two dioceses should be considered.
The Bishop of the parent Diocese (Northwestern PA) would be the bishop and the Bishop of the junior diocese (Pittsburgh) would be Bishop Coadjutor of the reunited diocese.
General Convention would need to give its final approval and the facts forwarded to the Presiding Bishop once the reunion has been completed. At that time the faux Diocese of Pittsburgh would cease to exist.
The following resolution has been prepared: Resolved: that this 144th Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church direct the Standing Committee (or Ecclesiastical Authority) of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh to form a broadly based task force, including at least three clergy and three lay persons, to study the possibility of the reunion of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.
It looks like the "All is Well in Pittsburgh Strategy" might be tanking, wrote a VOL reader.
The document can be seen here: http://tinyurl.com/l7mm9u
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