ENI – The US Episcopal (Anglican) Church has elected Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori as its first female leader, a move seen as creating further strain in a denomination already divided over the consecration of an openly gay bishop.
She is the first woman to hold the top post in any of the world's Anglican churches. Only two other Anglican churches, in Canada and New Zealand, have ordained women bishops, although another 11 of the Anglican Communion’s 38 provinces have accepted the principle. The election came 30 years after the 2.3-million-member Epi copal Church approved the ordination of women to the priesthood.
