The Church of England's ruling body voted to press ahead with steps permitting women to become bishops, a move that risks further division because it lacks accommodations for traditionalists opposed to the idea.
The decision came at a meeting of senior church leaders in which one bishop broke down in tears.
More than a dozen other Anglican churches around the world have authorized women to serve as bishops. The U.S. Episcopal Church is led by a woman, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori.
