Explanation

Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution requires that the “Bishop or the Bishop Coadjutor shall be chosen agreeably pursuant to rules prescribed by the Convention” of that diocese. This is consistent with the polity of the Church. While it is important that the listed issues be addressed by each electing diocese or jurisdiction, the convention of each diocese has the right to define the actions needed to be taken to address these issues. It is in the interest of the Church, however, that each diocese act prior to the call for an election is made by the incumbent bishop, so this Resolution calls each diocese’s attention to the need for action and leaves to the electing diocese the ability of each individual diocese to act. Section IV.C.4 of this report goes into additional detail on the need for background and medical screenings, and how we recommend dioceses handle and use the data obtained from those efforts.