shameful, just shameful

We are driving back from our vacation, and am at my brother's house in South Carolina. It is my first chance to check the internet in over a week, and I read this VERY SHAMEFUL news from the House of Bishops. All this in spite of the fact that 1) he hasn't abandoned the communion as of the vote, 2) the three senior bishops did not vote to depose him and Schori went ahead with it anyway, 3) 128 of the 290 eligible bishops were present (not the quorum required by canon, but reinterpreted by the current regime), 4) Only 56 of those voting to depose were active diocesan bishops (half of the 112 dioceses), and as Kendall Harmon's TitusOneNine further points out, 5) "A mere 6 dioceses (Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Connecticut, Chicago, North Carolina and Maine) accounted for 21 of the 88 YES votes (nearly 1/4 of the total Yes votes).".

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From http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2008/9/18/house-of-bishops-deposes-bishop-robert-duncan

House of Bishops Deposes Bishop Robert Duncan
Posted on: September 18, 2008
The House of Bishops brushed aside procedural challenges and deposed Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh from the ordained ministry of The Episcopal Church Sept. 18.

The final tally was 88 yes, 35 no, with four abstentions, according to one bishop. Those results are not official, however.

Present were 128 bishops. Not present were 15 who could not attend for a variety of reasons, including the bishops of Texas who are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. Nine did not respond and were not present, according to Episcopal News Service.

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.”

While Bishop Duncan continues to believe that the deposition is unlawful, he will not challenge it prior to the end of the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s annual convention unless forced to do so by the leadership of The Episcopal Church. On Oct. 4, diocesan convention deputies will consider the second and final reading of a constitutional change that would realign the diocese with the Province of the Southern Cone.

With the passage of that constitutional change, the diocese will be free to welcome Bishop Duncan back as its bishop. In the meantime, under the diocese’s governing documents, the standing committee will serve as the diocese’s ecclesiastical authority.

“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.”