Breaking in Jersey – Bishop’s Letter to Dean
A letter that the Bishop of Winchester sent to the Dean Bob Key on the 9th of March has come into the public domain. After questions were raised in the States on Tuesday, BBC Jersey ran the following news item and interview this morning.
You can read the original letter below.
[gview file=”https://www.peter-ould.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Bishop-Dakin-to-Dean-re-Suspension-090313.pdf”]
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Interesting letter. “You may not elect to follow the local law rather than fulfil your duty of obedience to me”? The oath of canonical obedience I’m familiar with covers “all things lawful and honest”, in other words, the obedience is constrained by the law of the land. Or am I misunderstanding what the bishop is referring to here?
Sounds like a typical Brit – not aware that each country has its own laws.
Time for the channel islands to.join the Diocese in Europe? (Where it is well understood that each church must follow national law and CofE canons as far as possible!)
What this letter does not disclose is what the Bishop was asking Bob to do that was supposedly contrary to local laws. What could the Bishop be legally permitted to ask of Bob that was unlawful give his own obligation to “all things lawful and honest.”?
It sounds more like this was the result in Bob not being willing to engage in a discussion about what was lawful.