Scottish Episcopals approve women bishops

LONDON — The Scottish Episcopal Church became the first of Britain’s three Anglican churches to allow the ordination of women as bishops June 12.

Its general synod meeting in Edinburgh voted by substantially more than the two-thirds majorities needed to give final approval to the canon endorsing this move. All seven bishops voted in favor, with the clergy voting 63 to 10 (with one abstention) and the laity 54 to 14 (with four abstentions). Following acceptance of the canon, the synod unanimously pledged that opponents of women bishops would “continue for all time to have a valued and respected place within the Scottish Episcopal Church.”