Church Of England Votes In Favour Of Appointing Female Bishops

The Church of England allowed women to become bishops in a historical judgment on Monday, Nov. 17. The first appointment is likely to take place by Christmas.

The proposal was initiated in July while the British Parliament supported the proposal in October. It was officially finalised on Monday after a show of hands had voted in favour of appointing female bishops. The voting took place at the General Synod, the law-making body of the Church of England. The Most Rev. Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, declared the result after the vote. "Today we can begin to embrace a new way of being the church and moving forward together," New York Times quoted him. The first women priests were ordained in 1994. However, they did not manage to take up the responsibilities of the most senior roles of the Church.

In spite of the favourable voting, there is still disagreement on the issue between Anglicans who support the move and traditionalists who do not. The move was earlier proposed in 2012 when allowing women to take up the most senior responsibilities was ruled out. The recent move involves an additional sentence to Canon 33 saying: "A man or a woman may be consecrated to the office of bishop." Archbishop Welby, the spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, cautioned fellow church leaders that the public would find it "incomprehensible" why women were excluded from becoming bishops.

The leader of the church has always supported the move to allow women to become bishops. He acknowledged on Monday that there was a serious possibility the Anglican community would get divided worldwide on the issue. He said it was difficult to see how "some serious fractures" could be avoided without repentance and prayer. BBC Religious Affairs Correspondent Caroline Wyatt said before the vote that the show of hands was going to be both "significant" and "historic." Southwell and Nottingham diocese has already started considering applications from women for vacant posts. However, there is not going to be any official announcement before January 2015. New bishops are going to be appointed soon at Newcastle, Gloucester and Oxford dioceses.

Reform, a conservative evangelical group within the Church of England, is against the appointment of female bishops. It argues that it is "inappropriate" for women to lead dioceses because of "the divine order of male headship." According to the faction, at least one fourth of the church members are going to find it "incompatible with their beliefs."

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au