Way cleared for women bishops

THE Church of England has voted to move towards ordaining women bishops, a step which could provoke an exodus of conservative clergy and deepen the widening splits within the worldwide Anglican Communion.A synod meeting in the city of York voted to "remove legal obstacles" in church law to women bishops, a process church officials said could take about four years to complete.

All three houses of the synod - the church's parliament - voted in favour. The most senior house, the House of Bishops, voted 41 for and only six against.

Bishops play a key role in the hierarchy of Christian churches since they head dioceses and ordain new priests. Opening the episcopate, or community of bishops, to women would allow them into the inner sanctum of power in the church.

But the decision risked putting the church on a collision course with its conservatives, who defend the all-male clergy by saying Jesus Christ chose only men as his Apostles - the forerunners of modern bishops.

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