Church backs female bishops

Tuesday, 12 July 2005 12:00 AM

The General Synod of the Church of England last night voted overwhelmingly to remove the barriers preventing the ordination of female bishops.

The Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Rev Tom Butler, put forward the motion to begin "the process for removing the legal obstacles to the ordination of women".

It was passed after a lengthy debate at the 500-strong meeting in York despite some delegates threatening to join the ranks of the Roman Catholics.

Andrew Burnham, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, argued that as Jesus chose only men as his disciples, it was wrong in principle to allow women the role.

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has said he foresees no "theological objections" to a woman leading the church but added that there were "quite a lot of hurdles to be overcome".

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