London, England, Feb 12, 2006 / 22:00 pm
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, is calling for support for a proposal to allow the ordination of women to the episcopate, which would open the door for his successor to be a woman.
According to media reports, during the Anglican General Synod held last week, Williams called for fellow leaders to support the ordination of women to the episcopate, despite deep division on the issue in the Anglican Communion.
He urged the Church of England to accept an elaborate compromise whereby dissenting parishes would be able to opt to stick with male bishops.
If the proposal is approved, starting in 2012 a woman could theoretically become Archbishop of Canterbury and be the spiritual leader of 77 million Anglicans worldwide.