Canterbury urges vote for women as bishops

• Tweet

CANTERBURY, England, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Britain's Archbishop of Canterbury urged Anglican church members to get behind a proposal to allow women to become bishops.

Rowan Williams told church members in a statement failure to pass the proposal in next month's vote would likely create an even higher level of dissent within the church.

Williams favors the resolution; however, he has been seeking a compromise with factions who oppose female bishops on theological grounds, the British newspaper The Independent said Friday.

A major sticking point has been calls for official protections for such members who refuse to follow orders from a woman. As a result, there was pushback from members who objected to what they saw as a two-tier system being implemented within the church.

Williams wrote, "The legislation is not perfect" but cautioned that kicking the issue down the road would not produce a better outcome.