Church remains divided over historic reforms to create women bishops

Plans to introduce women bishops have deeply divided the Church of England, according to the survey.
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent
04 Jan 2009

The poll of General Synod members found that only half of them would support the compromise deal proposed by the Church.

After years of bitter wrangling over the issue, a report was published last week that advocated creating a new class of clergy to cater for traditionalists who refuse to accept women's ordination.

However, 41 per cent of respondents said they would not back such a solution, and a further eight per cent said they were undecided.

Figures on both sides of the debate argued that providing "complementary" or "flying" bishops for opponents of female bishops was unacceptable. the rest