Legal Instrument - Confirmation of the Bishop of Bristol's Election - Summary Petition [2018-06-25]

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2018

Bristol

Summary Petition

Provincial Registry
Province of Canterbury
16 Beaumont Street
Oxford OX1 2LZ

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In the Name of God. Amen

Whereas Your Grace the Most Reverend Father in God Justin Portal by Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Metropolitan is sufficiently and lawfully authorised and empowered by Act of Parliament of this Realm to perform the Confirmation of Election hereinafter mentioned and is by the Letters Patent of Her Most Gracious Majesty Elizabeth the Second by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen Head of the Commonwealth Defender of the Faith required so to do either yourself or by your Vicar General and Official Principal lawfully constituted

Now the Proctor of the College of Canons of the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in Bristol doth by this Petition say allege and in Law propound Article by Article as follows to wit:

First That the Episcopal See of Bristol became lately vacant by the resignation of The Right Reverend Michael Arthur Hill and hath for some time been vacant and the diocese is at present lacking the leadership and guidance of a Diocesan Bishop and Pastor, and

Secondly That the said Episcopal See of Bristol being vacant as aforesaid The College of Canons thereof being capitularly assembled and having prayed for and obtained the Royal Licence did in their Cathedral Church unanimously fix a certain day for the Election of a new Bishop and all and each of them having any right vote and interest in the said Cathedral Church were lawfully cited and warned to attend on the day and in the place aforesaid in order to conduct the business of the said Election, and

Thirdly That the said College of Canons on the 17 May 2018 being capitularly assembled and observing the Statutes of this Realm and having diligently considered the qualities of a person fit to be elected Bishop and Pastor of the said Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in Bristol Bristol did on the said date with our assent and consent elect The Very Reverend Vivienne Frances Faull Dean of York to be their Bishop and Pastor and have so provided the said Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in Bristol with a Pastor, and

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Fourthly That the said election and the name of the person so elected were duly published and declared in the Cathedral Church aforesaid before the clergy and people then and there assembled,

Fifthly That the said Bishop so elected as aforesaid having been humbly petitioned by the Proctor for The College of Canons of the Cathedral Church and being in due time and place requested to consent to her Election as aforesaid to be Bishop and Pastor of the said Cathedral Church has given her consent and assent in writing to the same, and

Sixthly That the said Bishop Elect is a prudent and discreet person and eminent for hers knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and deservedly commended for her life and character and is of due age and an ordained Priest and devoted to God and will be valued and of great service to the Cathedral Church aforesaid, and

Seventhly That the said College of Canons have by their Letters Patent under their Common Seal signified the holding of the said Election and therein named the person elected to Her Most Excellent Majesty Our Queen according to the custom of their office and the Statutes of this Realm, and

Eighthly That the proceedings of the said Election being presented to Our said Lady the Queen on the part of the said College of Canons Her Most Excellent Majesty out of Her Royal Clemency graciously hath given and doth give Her Royal Assent and Consent thereof, and

Ninthly That the aforesaid Most Serene Lady Our Queen hath not only signified to you the said Most Reverend Father concerning Her Royal Assent and Consent to the said Election graciously given by Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm to you inscribed and directed but also by the tenor of the same hath ordered that you would confirm the aforesaid Election and perform and fulfil whatever else on this occasion is incumbent on your Pastoral Office according to the form of the Laws and Statutes of this Realm published and provided and the contents of the said Letters Patent

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WHEREFORE the said Proctor of the College of Canons humbly prays that the said Election and the person elected may be decreed to be confirmed and may effectually be confirmed according to the exigency of the Laws and Statutes of this Realm and in compliance with the said Royal Letters Patent

and that the care government and administration of the Spirituals of the said Bishopric be committed to the said Bishop Elect

and that it be decreed that she be inducted installed and enthroned into the real actual and corporal possession of the said Bishopric and of all the rights dignities honours privileges and appurtenances whatsoever

and further that whatever by law and reason needs to be done shall be ordered and decreed in the said Confirmation of Election and that such orders and decrees shall supply whatever defects if any by chance may have happened in the said business of Election

and the Proctor entreats that the Confirmation may proceed without his having to provide any further proof of the matters set out herein and that Your Grace being my Lord the Judge will find the same to be validly and properly proved within the terms of the law

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