Pittsburgh Moves Further Away

At its diocesan convention this weekend, the "Episcopal" Diocese of Pittsburgh took further steps to separate from the Episcopal Church.

Episcopal News Service reported it thus:

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh (http://www.pgh.anglican.org/), meeting in its 141st annual Convention November 3-4 at Trinity Cathedral in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, supported a previous request of Bishop Robert Duncan and the diocesan Standing Committee for alternative primatial oversight (APO) and withdrawing its consent to membership in the Episcopal Church's Province III.

Duncan admitted in his convention address that just how APO would be achieved remains unclear. The constitution of the Anglican Consultative Council, the Anglican Communion's main policy-making body, makes no provisions for alternative primatial oversight. Neither do the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.

Read the entire ENS story here.

A great many commentators were critical of Pittsburgh's actions.

The ever-restrained Anglicans Online took umbrage at the bishop's comments. Even the terminally temperate Nick Knisely of EntangledStates was moved to comment:

Apparently what's sauce for the goose isn't sauce for the gander. The voting majority of the Diocese of Pittsburgh is asking that the Episcopal Church respect their beliefs by allowing it to associate with like-minded dioceses and to disassociate from people with whom it disagrees. But then the Diocesan Convention refuses to allow the people within its borders to do the same.

One wonders what's going on in Pittsburgh, even as one feels sorrow for faithful Episcopalians stranded in that diocese.