The ENS take-
The organization headed by former bishop Robert Duncan that claims to have withdrawn from the Episcopal Church in 2008 said October 29 that it will appeal a court ruling that said it cannot continue to hold any assets of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
"Left uncontested, the award of all diocesan assets to the minority party, a group that comprises only a third of the parishes that were a part of our diocese when we withdrew from the Episcopal Church, would establish a precedent that we believe the minority would use to take steps to seize all the assets of all our local parishes," the group said in a statement.
That statement also said that the group was "pleased to introduce ourselves as The Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh," adding that it was "previously known as The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh."
The group also said that it was appealing because "the question of the legal right of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh to separate from its former denominational affiliation (The Episcopal Church of the United States) … has never yet had its day in court."
The leaders of the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Pittsburgh issued a statement later in the day saying they were disappointed by the announcement of the group's plan to appeal. They said that the October 6 ruling "clearly and unambiguously requires that the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church of the United States be the rightful trustee of those assets."
"We stand ready to defend our position and the court's ruling on appeal," the leaders said. "At the same time, we will continue to cooperate in the orderly transition of diocesan property, and when the time is right, to engage in a dialogue on other issues between us that still need to be resolved."
On October 4, 2008 a majority of the delegates to the diocese's 143rd annual convention voted to approve a resolution by which the diocese purported to leave the Episcopal Church. The leaders who departed have said that they remain in charge of an entity they had been calling the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh (Anglican) that is now part of the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. And they say that in that capacity they control all the assets that were held by the diocese when they left.
More here-
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_116205_ENG_HTM.htm
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