THE election of the next Bishop of Puerto Rico has been
cancelled, three days before it was due to be held at the diocesan
convention.
The election of a successor to Bishop David Alvarez had already
been postponed after the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church
in the United States, Dr Katharine Jefferts Schori, sent a letter
to the diocese last August, expressing concern about the process.
Her letter, quoted on Puerto Rico diocese's website, asked for time
to "harmonize".
The election had been postponed until 7 December; but, three
days beforehand, the standing committee of the diocese issued a
letter that said that they had taken the "extremely difficult
decision" to cancel the election, but it was "necessary for the . .
. welfare of our diocese".
A previous statement on the diocesan website said that the
process of appointing a new Bishop had resulted in "differences
between brethren", and referred to "mistakes and inconsistencies in
the process".
The committee's letter warned against using to the media to
complain: "To our brothers and sisters who have crowded the media
with messages that are not characteristic of the Church, those who
perhaps have sought personal gain in all this, we ask them once and
for all to move on."
The former Suffragan Bishop of Connecticut, the Rt Revd Wilfrido
Ramos-Orench, has been appointed as Provisional Bishop until such
time as an election may be held.
