THE Church of England’s first female bishop could be appointed as soon as 2015 after the Anglican General Synod voted through changes today.
The change to canon law was approved in London 20 years after the first women were ordained as Church of England priests.
Today’s decision rubber stamped a vote in July which backed women bishops, and comes two years after the plans were defeated by six votes in November 2012.
The Diocese of Oxford is one possibility for the first woman bishop as the seat has been vacant since the Rt Revd John Pritchard retired on October 31.
But Right Reverend Pritchard told the Oxford Mail that he thought it was “unlikely” his successor would be a woman due to the size of the diocese.
He said: "For such a large diocese it helps to have a suffragan bishop, someone who has done the job before."
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