PENNSYLVANIA: Diocese could bring new charges against Bishop Charles Bennison

By David W. Virtue
October 4, 2010

The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Pennsylvania could bring new charges against Bishop Charles E. Bennison under changes to the Title IV Canons which go into effect next July 1.

At the upcoming Diocesan Convention in November, a resolution announcing that the See of Pennsylvania is vacant could also be initiated by any number of Pennsylvania Episcopalians in good standing. Once the see is declared vacant, they could declare that the Standing Committee is the ecclesiastical authority of the diocese.

The House of Bishops could also declare the See of Pennsylvania vacant and ask the Standing Committee to take over.

A canon lawyer familiar with the situation in the Diocese of Pennsylvania said Bennison can be cited for "conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation," -- he is currently maintaining that the witnesses against him at his trial all perjured themselves.

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