Special Convention Revamps California Canons

May 12, 2008

The Diocese of California has overhauled its canons, saying the action will make its operations more transparent and its leaders more accountable.

At a special convention May 10, delegates voted to eliminate the bishop’s complete control over property and created an executive council to replace a more complicated, less transparent administrative structure.

The actions were the culmination of a process set in motion by California Bishop Marc Andrus about 10 months ago. But the actions of the neighboring Diocese of San Joaquin also served as inspiration, and Bishop Andrus contended that opposition to that move might have been greater had the structure of the diocese been more transparent.

“Some have said that people who might have acted to prevent the actions in San Joaquin didn’t do so because they were not kept fully aware of what was happening,” Bishop Andrus said after the convention.

The actions of the special convention meeting at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco will replace a legal entity called a corporation sole that gives entire control over diocesan property to the bishop. That change will not take place until 2011, to allow time for changes to deeds, title insurance and filing for property tax exemption on the 16 missions, 11 parishes and seven other properties of the diocese. The changes to the deeds alone are expected to cost $1,000 per property, according to a memorandum issued to the convention by Chancellor William Orrick. the rest at The Living Church