My wife and I are such Fringe fans that we're watching the whole series again from the start. Suddenly it dawned on me: the ACA is in an alternate universe. Brian Marsh is like William Bell/Leonard Nimoy: he travels between the two universes. Marsh can exploit the differences: the alternate ACA allows bishops to remove and appoint vestry members, for instance. When Marsh arrives in this universe, he simply applies the rules from the alternate.
Recently someone pointed out another difference in our two universes: in late 2012, the ACA House of Bishops named Anthony Morello Vicar General of the Diocese of the West. But Vicar General is not a post named in the Diocese of the West's constitution and canons -- so Morello (and his successor, Frederick Rivers) has no authority or duties in that post. I'm told that one ACA-DOW priest simply never returned Morello's phone calls. Sounds about right, at least in this universe.
But this raises the question -- what set of rules and assumptions governs the ACA House of Bishops? If they can create a Vicar General out of thin air, what else can they do? Elect a Pope? Name a Grand Inquisitor? Crown a Holy Roman Emperor?
The APA is rightly proceeding with extreme caution over giving this crowd any potential access to their own parishes.
