London, July 11: The Church of England rejected an attempt by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Mr Rowan Williams, to accommodate opponents of women bishops, dealing a blow to his authority and increasing the likelihood of some traditionalists who favour an all-male clergy leaving the Anglican Communion.
Mr Williams, spiritual head of the world Anglican communion, had tabled an amendment at the church’s General Synod, or parliament, which would have strengthened the legal position of male bishops ministering in dioceses where parishes objected to women bishops.
It would have provided for a so-called nominated bishop, working alongside the female bishop, taking his power from the church rather than the diocesan bishop. But although the amendment, jointly put forward by Archbishop of York John Sentamu, the church’s second most senior cleric, secured a majority of votes across all three houses of synod, it failed because one, the house of clergy, narrowly voted against.