THE Court of Review of the Episcopal Church in the United States has ruled in favour of a priest who took a three-year “fast” from celebrating or receiving communion in protest, he said, at the Church’s complicity in white supremacy.
The Revd Dr Cayce Ramey, who is white, was the Rector of All Saints’, Alexandria. He resigned last year after the diocese of Virginia began Title IV disciplinary proceedings against him over his refusal to administer communion. A disciplinary panel voted to depose him from Holy Orders. He appealed against the decision (News, 29 November 2024).
The findings of that legal challenge have now been published. A majority of the court’s 16 members overturned all five of the original findings against Dr Ramey, and referred to procedural errors in the application of the Canons by the diocesan hearing panel. Six dissented.
The conclusion of the majority reads: “Title IV is not a catch-all tool to punish every imprudent act by clergy. It provides a specific disciplinary mechanism with defined Offenses and standards of proof.
“However well-intentioned, the dissent’s approach — stretching the canons to fit a novel situation out of a generalized sense that Ramey did wrong — would set a dangerous precedent. It would invite disciplinary action whenever a clergy person’s symbolic gesture is unpopular or controversial, even if it breaks no Canon or Rubric.” The opinion goes on to say, however, that “Our decision does not reflect an endorsement of Ramey’s actions or his theological views.”
Six members issued a separate opinion saying that they would have ruled largely against Dr Ramey’s appeal.
The Court of Review is composed of lay and ordained members from all nine provinces of the Episcopal Church.
Dr Ramey’s fast was prompted by a visit to Ghana in 2017, and a tour of Cape Coast Castle, a slave-trading fort, where an Anglican chapel had been built above a dungeon for male slaves.
In a document prepared for the Court of Review, he wrote: “The site of the first Anglican celebration of Holy Eucharist in Ghana was directly above hell on earth. Men stood in the dungeon, surrounded by and on top of bodies and blood, while an Anglican priest and a congregation of worshippers received the body and blood of Jesus Christ.”
In the court hearing last November, Dr Ramey argued that his parishioners were not denied communion, as worship at All Saints’ was carried out with neighbouring congregations, and other priests offered the eucharist. Some of Dr Ramey’s parishioners also wrote in support of his fast, though others had lodged a complaint with the diocese of Virginia.
The diocese, in a response to the ruling, said that it strongly disagreed with the court’s interpretation of canon law.
The Bishop of Virginia, the Rt Revd Mark Stevenson, said: “Confronting racism remains mission critical for me and for the diocese of Virginia. Each of us must work to secure justice and human dignity and I welcome every member of the diocese, including Dr Ramey, to join together in this holy and life-giving work.
“But it is clear to me that Dr Ramey’s actions, however well-intentioned, have harmed his congregation, the diocese, and our shared efforts at racial reconciliation and healing. It is my obligation as Bishop to seek to remedy that harm moving forward, and I will work diligently to do so.”
Dr Ramey told the Episcopal News Service that he was digesting the court documents and would not comment.