Decision Number 236

Decision

It is the decision of the Judicial Council that the four-year term of episcopacy to which Dionisio D. Alejandro was elected in November 1960 expired at the close of the 1964 session of the Philippines Central Conference. At that time he again became a member of the Annual Conference of which he had ceased to be a member when he was elected to the episcopacy. The fact of his age is, in this connection, immaterial.

The Philippines Central Conference does not have the power to grant life tenure to a man who is in the retired relation even though he may have been a bishop for a term of years. The tenure provision must be clearly stated before the election occurs.

We do not grant relief sought under Paragraph (e) of the prayer of the petition of the Council of Bishops beyond that stated above.