This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/7494517.stm

The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Church votes backs women bishops Church vote backs women bishops
(20 minutes later)
The Church of England's ruling body, the General Synod, has voted to confirm the ordination of women bishops. The Church of England's ruling General Synod has voted to ordain women as bishops and approved a code of practice aimed at reassuring opponents.
But a national code of practice to accommodate traditionalists was also approved by the Synod, which was meeting in York. But the code falls short of safeguards demanded by traditionalists, such as male "super-bishops" for objectors.
BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Piggot said the code would set out as-yet unspecified safeguards. BBC correspondent Robert Piggot said the vote was conclusive and had been accompanied by emotional scenes.
Some 1,300 clergy had threatened to leave the Church if safeguards were not agreed to reassure traditionalists.Some 1,300 clergy had threatened to leave the Church if safeguards were not agreed to reassure traditionalists.
Our correspondent the vote on ordaining female bishops was conclusive and was accompanied by emotional scenes
'Structurally humiliating''Structurally humiliating'
Opponents of their ordination had made the threat to leave in a letter to the archbishops of Canterbury and York, but critics say many of the signatories are retired rather than serving clergy. Opponents of women's ordination as bishops had made the threat to leave in a letter to the archbishops of Canterbury and York, but critics said many of the signatories were retired rather than serving clergy.
Women in the Church had said any compromise allowing traditionalists to go to parallel or "super-bishops" instead of female bishops would institutionalise division.Women in the Church had said any compromise allowing traditionalists to go to parallel or "super-bishops" instead of female bishops would institutionalise division.
Following six hours of debate, which saw one bishop in tears, the Synod rejected both the "super-bishops" proposal as well as the traditionalists' preferred option of new dioceses for objectors.
Our correspondent said the safeguards set out by the code were as yet unspecified.
During the debate at the University of York, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said he would be in favour of "a more rather than a less robust" form of accommodating traditionalists.During the debate at the University of York, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said he would be in favour of "a more rather than a less robust" form of accommodating traditionalists.
He added: "I am deeply unhappy with any scheme or any solution to this which ends up, as it were, structurally humiliating women who might be nominated to the episcopate."He added: "I am deeply unhappy with any scheme or any solution to this which ends up, as it were, structurally humiliating women who might be nominated to the episcopate."
But Synod member and traditionalist Gerry O'Brien was hissed as he compared the decision to the US Episcopal Church's controversial ordination of Bishop Gene Robinson, who is gay.
Mr O'Brien said: "We can force people out of the Church of England but I think the experience in America says you can't force people out of the Anglican communion, because there are a lot of archbishops elsewhere in the world who will be more than ready to provide the support."
Christina Rees, chairwoman of Women and the Church, which supports female ordination, said she welcomed the decision.
She added: "It is very good for the church and very good for women and also good for the whole nation."
The first women were ordained as priests in the Church of England in 1994.The first women were ordained as priests in the Church of England in 1994.