[NY Times] The Church of England overturned centuries of tradition on Monday with a final vote allowing women to become bishops, with the first appointments possible by Christmas.
Approval of the historic change, which was first agreed to in July, was announced after a largely symbolic show of hands at the General Synod, the lawmaking body of the Church of England. The British Parliament supported the measure last month.
"Today we can begin to embrace a new way of being the church and moving forward together," the archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, said after the vote. |