Bishop Duncan continues to have the respect of a majority of the primates and bishops of the entire Anglican Communion, including the Archbishop of Canterbury," wrote Network and Common Cause leaders.

It was an execution, a lynching, said a spokesman for the American Anglican Council.

Ironically, Bishop Dorsey Henderson, president of the Title IV Review Committee voted to depose Duncan and then later, after the vote, reversed himself and voted no. Was it an attack of conscience?

One of the strongest statements came from the Bishop of Albany, the Rt. Rev. William Love and his Standing Committee. They objected to the misuse of the canon and the fact that all the bishops would not be there and said a vote would be invalid. "There was no mention of deposition proceedings referenced in the draft agenda for the September HOB Meeting sent out on August 20, 2008," they said.

The bishop then blasted Mrs. Jefferts Schori and her litiginous ways. "With each new attack, more fuel is thrown on the fire. The depositions and lawsuits must stop. What type of example are we setting for our children and the rest of the world? What are we saying about how Episcopalians treat one another? Jesus commands us to love our enemy; to love our neighbor as we love ourselves; to love one another as He loves us. Clearly many in the Episcopal Church have not heard or listened to His command, when it comes to the way we relate to one another within TEC and the wider Anglican Communion."

Peter Frank, Pittsburgh Communications spokesman said the church has thrown out a godly leader and it is not making an attractive case for itself for a diocese to stay in TEC. If the bishops wanted to make realignment a reality, they were going about it the right way. He described the charges as "absurd."

Asked what the mood of the diocese was like, Frank said the mood was sober and sad. "He (Duncan) has served The Episcopal Church for 30 years. We are hopeful for the future... it is not the end. The Diocese will carry forward under the Standing Committee between now and until Diocesan Convention. At convention we will vote on whether or not on realignment and coming under another ecclesiastical authority."

Who voted No to Deposition.

The following is a list of those who voted against the motion to depose Bishop Duncan: Albany, Dallas, Western Kansas, Central Florida, SC, Suffragan Bishop of Alabama, Tennessee, Southwest Florida, Easton, MD, Montana, NJ, Milwaukee, Nthn. Indiana, OK, VA, RI, NW Texas, Eastern TN, Mississippi. Louisiana and Western LA.

There is no appeal allowed but there may be civil litigation.

South Carolina Bishop Mark Lawrence challenged the use of Canon IV.9 on substantive and procedural grounds saying that in regards to the chair's ruling there was no need for inhibition prior to deposition. There was no need to have three senior bishops certify the facts for inhibition and no need for a majority vote of the HOB as stated in the canons, he said.

The reason the HOB used Canon 4.9 is because there is no appeal. It is an expedited process originally intended to go after those bishops who openly renounce the doctrine and discipline of the TEC or abandon the Anglican Communion altogether and those no longer in communion with the Anglican Communion.

That was not the case here. Since 2004, over 100 clergy and bishops have been inhibited by The Episcopal Church. Every time they have done so, The Episcopal Church has torn the fabric of the Anglican Communion even deeper by effectively saying they are not in communion with those Anglican provinces they have fled to for protection.

Today's illegal and unjust deposition of the Bishop of Pittsburgh is one more tear, one more declaration of independence from the rest of the Anglican Communion. By this action today, TEC has ignored the American context of due process and fair play. Justice is always resolved in favor of the accused. Instead, they used a disciplinary canon with no appeal and removed every procedural safeguard and due process in order to justify their rush to judgment.

Practically, it is easier to depose a bishop in the HOB than it is to receive their resignation, said another bishop. The PB can convene 68 bishops with jurisdiction and depose any sitting bishop for any reason she wants.

They have shredded the rule of law in the Episcopal Church and made the HOB utterly lawless. By brushing aside procedural challenges, the HOB rushed to judgment, and performed an ecclesiastical lynching that will resound around the Anglican Communion, giving the Global South Primates even more ammunition in the armory as they approach the next Primates meeting.

The so-called "deposition of Bishop Duncan is illegal, unfair, and unchristian, Said John H. Lewis, Jr. Duncan's attorney. "It is illegal because it violates numerous Canons of The Episcopal Church because the Canons require that any vote to depose must have the vote of the majority of Bishops entitled to vote. Here, the vote was only by a majority of those present."

"It is unfair because Bishop Duncan was denied his fundamental right - the right to a church trial. He has been denied that right because the Presiding Bishop believes that his "deposition" will assist her in her desire to seize the property of the Diocese of Pittsburgh."

Immediately after his deposition from the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church, Bishop Duncan was welcomed into the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone, according to Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables.

"As was resolved by resolution made at the Provincial Synod in Valparaiso last November 2007, we are happy to welcome Bishop Duncan into the Province of the Southern Cone as a member of our House of Bishops, effective immediately," Bishop Venables said.

"Neither the Presiding Bishop nor the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church has any further jurisdiction over his ministry. We pray for all Anglicans in Pittsburgh as they consider their own relationship with The Episcopal Church in the coming weeks."

"This is of course a very painful moment for Pittsburgh Episcopalians," said the Rev. David Wilson, president of the standing committee.

"The leadership of The Episcopal Church has inserted itself in a most violent manner into the affairs and governance of our diocese. While we await the decision of the diocesan convention on realignment to a different province of the Anglican Communion, we will stand firm against any further attempts by those outside our boundaries to intimidate us."

VOL has posted a number of stories relating to this event. This special digest is devoted solely to the actions taken against Bishop Robert Duncan by the House of Bishops.

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