Church of England Votes to Accept Women as Bishops

The church’s General Synod voted to allow women to be priests in 1992, and ordinations began two years later. Lindsey Parnaby/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

LONDON — After years of deadlock and division, the Church of England voted on Monday to allow women to become bishops, overturning centuries of tradition and overcoming a long-running dispute that had undermined the unity of Anglicans.

The vote taken in the General Synod, the decision-making body of the Church of England, was supported by the archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of the church and the global Anglican Communion, who told the BBC before the vote that the public would find the exclusion of women “almost incomprehensible.”

After the result, he said in a statement that he was delighted and described the move as “the completion of what was begun over 20 years ago with the ordination of women as priests.”

The changes will be considered by Parliament. Provided they are approved there, a formal announcement will be made at the next meeting of the General Synod, in November.

The General Synod voted to ordain women as priests in 1992, and ordinations began two years later. Now, around one-third of Anglican clerics are women, and women can hold senior positions such as canon or archdeacon.

Moves to dismantle the legal obstacles to women as bishops began in earnest in 2005. But in 2012, the change was blocked by a small margin by lay representatives in the General Synod, provoking a crisis and prompting the archbishop of Canterbury at the time, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, to say that the church had “undoubtedly lost a measure of credibility.”

Women serve as bishops in Anglican Communion churches in several countries, including the United States, Australia and Canada, but some Anglican churches in developing countries do not even ordain women as priests.

Such divisions surfaced during the debate in England, with some opponents objecting on theological grounds to women as bishops. At times the issue became so divisive that there were fears that groups might break away if they lost the argument, either to align with the Roman Catholic Church or with evangelical African churches.

Those who voiced opposition during a debate on Monday included Bishop John Goddard of Burnley, who said he could not vote in favor of the legislation “out of obedience to God.”

“Out of theological conviction, I must vote no,” he said, according to The Press Association.

The Church of England is recognized by law as the country’s official church and enjoys special privileges. But the church’s decision in 2012 to continue barring women as bishops threatened relations between the church and the government, led by Prime Minister David Cameron, who supported the change, as did the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg.

“This is a watershed moment for the Church of England and a huge step forward in making our society fairer,” Mr. Clegg said in a statement. “Allowing women to become bishops is another long overdue step towards gender equality in senior positions.”

The latest proposals, which were voted on at a meeting in the northern city of York, included concessions to traditionalists by allowing parishes that are unwilling to accept a woman as bishop to request a man. An ombudsman would be offered to arbitrate disputes.

“Women will be bishops like all other bishops with no distinction at all,” Archbishop Welby said before the vote, “but we will seek for the groups who disagree with the ordination of women as bishops on theological grounds to continue to flourish within the church.”