Province IX Supports Autonomy of Puerto Rico Diocese
Episcopal News Service. December 28, 1978 [78370]
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala -- The Synod of the Ninth Province of the Episcopal Church has decided to support the autonomy of the Diocese of Puerto Rico and appointed a committee that will recommend new regional structures for those dioceses that want to become autonomous bodies outside of the Episcopal Church in the United States.
Puerto Rico will petition the next General Convention -- which meets in Denver, Colo., in September, 1979 -- for extra-provincial status, a similar step taken before by Costa Rica in 1976.The Synod re-elected the Rt. Rev. Lemuel B. Shirley, Bishop of Panama and the Canal Zone, as its president and the Rt. Rev. Leonardo Romero, Bishop of Northern Mexico, as vice-president
The Rev. Sergio Carranza, Dean of St. Andrews' Seminary, Mexico City, and Mr. Conzalo Lugo, former treasurer of the Diocese of Puerto Rico, were elected as the provincial representatives to the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church in the United States.
After considerable discussion, the Synod agreed to reserve a place in the Provincial Council for a representative of the provincial organization of the Episcopal Church Women. The provincial representative before the UTO Committee was awarded voice and vote at the Synod but no seat at the Council.
After the Synod, the Provincial Council appointed the Rev. James H. Ottley as Executive Secretary of the Province for a period of three years.
The Synod heard reports from its various committees as well as short presentations from the Rev. Samuel Van Culin, Executive for National and World Mission; Miss Judith Gillespie, UTO Coordinator; Mr. Paul Hickman from the Venture in Mission staff; the Rev. Thomas M. Anthony, Director of the World Program of the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Rev. Onell A. Soto, Mission Information and Education Officer at the Episcopal Church Center and former Executive Secretary of the Ninth Province.
In other actions, the Synod:
- Recommended that the expenses of the House of Bishops of the province be underwritten from the budget of the province when performing metropolitical functions with relation to extra-provincial dioceses under its care.
- Decided to negotiate the continuation of Rapidas, the province's ecumenical news service, with the newly formed Latin America Council of Churches. Also, placed Mundo Episcopal, the official organ of the province, under the responsibility of the provincial office.
- Agreed to send a committee composed of a bishop, a priest and a layperson to be observers at the forthcoming election of a new bishop for Colombia, slated for February 9.
- Appointed Mr. Walter Conrad Fisher, a civil engineer who worked in Guatemala during the earthquake, as consultant for diocesan constructions in the province.
- Accepted the invitation of the Diocese of the Dominican Republic to hold the next Synod in Santo Domingo in 1981.
- Approved a budget of $38,848 for 1979 with slight increase for 1980 and 1981.
At the closing of the Synod the 55 participants from the 12 dioceses of the province, guests and visitors attended the consecration of the new cathedral of St. James the Apostle.
The service, presided over by Bishop Anselmo Carral, was overflowing with visitors from all the missions of the diocese. The Vice-president of Guatemala, Dr. Francisco Villagran, also attended.