When does the Clock begin to Tick re Haiti’s Episcopal election?: And the answer is....

(Here is my post asking a question. The Very Rev. Ron Clingenpeel responded.  I have included his response at the close of this. )

The Diocese of Haiti elected a bishop conjugater on June 2nd. ENS reports that the Province II Court of Review had taken up objections raised by some Haitian clergy and lay delegates to that electing convention.  You can read that report HERE.

The Canons related to objection to the election are in Title 111, Canon 11, section 4. The process is detailed in the ENS article. Several things of note.

* The date of the election was June 2, 2018. The General Convention held its first hearings and other official actions on July3, 2018. The election was then 31 days before General Convention. The Canons say that no election can take place within 30 days of General Convention.  Close call, but they made it.

* More importantly: The count-down on the time in which bishops and standing committees are required to give consent is 120 days from the date of the submission of the certificate of election. Assuming that that notice and certificate went forward to the Presiding Bishop soon after the election itself, the clock is ticking.  I would assume the diocese did so, since otherwise there is no formal indication that an election took place for which there could be objections.

Meanwhile, the Court of Review is grinding through its own processes, so the notice asking for consents has presumably not gone out, and won’t until the Review is done and report made to the Presiding Bishop, who in turn will see to the distribution of that report to all bishops and dioceses.  So, as I read it the 120 days is under way and the process leaves fewer and fewer days for consent.

I would hope that an executive decision might be made to augment the Canons (which do not address this issue ) by a ruling that the 120 days would begin, not with the reception of the certificate of election but with the issuing of the findings of the Court of Review.  The Diocese of Haiti may face some questions from bishops and dioceses who have concerns about the election process and it would be helpful if they had all the time necessary to address those.

Ron's response:

The clock does not begin ticking until the Pb’s Office, in concert with the GC Office says it starts. The physical and psychological exams have to be completed before the clock begins, as well as all the forms properly submitted. In this case, until the court report is completed and forwarded to the proper offices, the clock does not begin. There is no magic clock that begins ticking at some precise date. So, there is no worry to be anxious over the 120 day period. It has not yet begun.