Episcopal Board of Inquiry Indulges in Buck Passing, ACU Leader Says
Diocesan Press Service. April 11, 1975 [75140]
PELHAM MANOR, N.Y. -- "No greater travesty of justice has ever been perpetrated in the name of Canon Law than the Report and Determination of the duly appointed Board of Inquiry that it had no jurisdiction to consider the charges made against the bishops who participated in the so-called ordination service at Philadelphia on July 29, 1974." This was the comment of the Rev. Francis W. Read, Chairman of the Legal Committee of the American Church Union.
The Board of Inquiry had been appointed in accordance with the procedures outlined in the general canons of the Episcopal Church to investigate the validity of charges which have been brought against the bishops who participated in the Philadelphia service. The report of the Board, issued March 26, stated that the Board does not have the jurisdiction to deal with this matter since they believe it to be a matter of doctrine, rather than one of procedure.
Fr. Read maintains "there would have been no question about the Board functioning had the procedural issue involved the ordination of 'men' . What this report is saying is the fact that the so-called ordination was of women justified all of the alleged and admitted constitutional and canonical violations, whereas they would not and could not have been justified in the case of ordination of men. This is 'sexism' in reverse."
Praising Dr. Clifford Morehouse and the Rev. Edwin A. Norris, Jr., for their courageous stand in opposing the majority report and not yielding to pressure tactics,
Fr. Read considered it "highly questionable whether the Board had any jurisdiction to rule its own lack of jurisdiction. "
"This is a sorry business," said Fr. Read, "which, if left to stand, could well mean the end of any pretense of a rule of law in the Episcopal Church."
The American Church Union is a national body of "high" or catholic-minded Episcopal bishops, clergy and lay people.