Church of England names its first woman bishop

c. 2014 Religion News Service

CANTERBURY, England (RNS) The Church of England announced on Wednesday (December 17) that Libby Lane, a parish priest from Hale, a small village outside Manchester, would become its first woman bishop, ending centuries of all-male leadership in this country’s established church.

The announcement from Downing Street, the prime minister’s official residence in London, came just a month after changes to canon law making it possible for women to assume the role of suffragan and diocesan bishops.