Anglican-Vatican relations hit rocks over women bishops

The Church of England continues to face the consternation of the Vatican after Monday night's vote confirming the Church's unequivocal course towards the first ordinations of women bishops.

The General Synod, the Church's ruling body, voted on Monday night in favour of women bishops but rejected measures to accommodate conservatives that included the appointment of so-called "super bishops".

The Vatican Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity said that it had "regretfully" learned of the Church of England's vote. The Roman Catholic Church opposes women bishops on the basis that Jesus appointed only men to be his apostles.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Council said: "Such a decision signifies a breaking away from the apostolic tradition maintained by all of the churches since the first millennium and is a further obstacle for reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Church of England.

"This decision will have consequences on the future of dialogue, which had up until now borne fruit."

The head of the Council, Cardinal Walter Kasper, is expected to reiterate that stance when he attends the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury next week. Around 700 bishops are to attend.

Church legislators will start work on a code of practice on how to accommodate opponents of women bishops. The legislation will be debated at next February's Synod in London although a final vote will take another two to three years.

Some 1,300 clergy threatened to leave the Church of England last week if measures, including the "super bishops", were not in place to care objectors.

The evangelical group within the Church of England, Reform, issued an initial statement on Tuesday expressing its disappointment with the vote.

"We note that the opinions of four out of the five most senior bishops on both the content and timing of this measure were swept aside in the course of the debate," the state said.

The group said it would scrutinise the code of practice carefully "but remain very sceptical as to its usefulness".

"By giving no legal provision Synod has effectively said: 'We don't want people like you in our Church of England.' This message will no doubt further rouse the 'sleeping giant' of orthodox and evangelical Anglicanism in the UK and around the globe."