Woman chosen as top US Episcopal Church bishop

Columbus, Ohio, June 19 : The US Episcopal Church chose Bishop Katharine Schori as its new leader, the first woman to head the 2.3 million-member denomination since its founding in colonial times.

Her election came 30 years after the Episcopal Church, the US branch of he worldwide Anglican Communion, approved the ordination of women to the priesthood.

Schori, who holds degrees in biology and oceanography and taught religious studies at Oregon State University before her 1994 ordination, was selected by bishops attending the church's triennial convention from a field of several candidates.

A majority of bishops backed the consecration of Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay bishop in more than 450 years of Anglican history, when the Church last met in convention three years ago.

Schori was elected after five ballots and was the front-runner from the start of voting, church officials said yesterday.

Coming in second in the voting was the Rev. Henry Parsley, bishop of the diocese of Alabama, who opposed the elevation of Robinson three years ago.

Schori, 52, is the bishop of the Diocese of Nevada. She will be installed at a ceremony in Washington's National Cathedral later this year.

How to address fallout from the Robinson consecration has dominated the convention.

The convention must still act on proposals that would address concerns raised by a report commissioned by the archbishop of Canterbury. That report advised the church to apologize for the Robinson consecration, promise not to elevate any more gays in same-sex relationships to the episcopate and take a stand against the blessing of same-sex unions.

When news of Schori's selection reached the convention, one delegate from Nevada described her as a person of prayer and action.

Another delegate commented that he could hear the glass ceiling shattering with her selection.

Reuters