The Bishop of Lichfield has described the vote against ordaining women as bishops as a “bitter blow”.
The Rt Revd Jonathan Gledhill added that he was deeply disappointed that the General Synod of the Church of England decided not to approve women for the role.
“This is a very unwelcome result,” he said. “The vast majority of members of the Church of England wanted the change to allow female bishops – over the past couple of years forty two out of forty four Diocesan Synods have voted in favour, so for General Synod to prevaricate in July and again now is a bitter blow.
“It might even call into question the process by which representatives are elected to General Synod when they are not genuinely reflecting the view of the majority.”
