A new report unveiled by the Church of England has outlined the options open to the Church regarding the consecration of women bishops, paving the way for a female Archbishop of Canterbury.

|TOP|The Guildford Group Report was introduced Monday by the Bishop of Guildford, the Rt. Rev. Christopher Hill, at a news conference in London, although the report added that having a woman as spiritual leader of the world’s Anglicans was still a long way off.

The document follows the General Synod last year which voted to begin the process that would legalise the consecration of women bishops.

The report said that women bishops could be ordained by the year 2012 but only following a process to work out a compromise with traditionalists. It also warned against giving too much prominence to the issue of a female Archbishop of Canterbury.

Under the proposals put forward by the document authored by the House of Bishops, all bishops' posts including the See of Canterbury would be open legally to women.

|QUOTE|"We believe the Church of England should have enough rooms - with interconnecting doors - in our traditionally inclusive household of faith," Hill said of the report.

However, the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) would be given statutory authority to judge whether the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion was ready for a female Archbishop of Canterbury.

"If the day comes when a woman is installed on the throne of St Augustine, (Canterbury) it would indeed be a notable day in church history," the report said.

The document also outlined a scheme entitled Transferred Episcopal Arrangements (TEA) which would allow for the appointment of a group of male bishops who would care for parishes which rejected women bishops.

|AD|In particular, many Church experts have felt that the Church’s ordeal over homosexuals in the Church and in general society has left it so weak and frail that the extra weight of bringing in women bishops would clearly break the Anglican Communion at its roots.

Traditionalists within the Church also argue against any scriptural evidence to support the consecration of women bishops as all of Jesus’ disciples were male.

Bishop Hill said on presenting the report: "There is no course of action, including the status quo, that is free of pain and risk."

According to proposals the Archbishop of Canterbury would agree to give up his role of consecrating women and delegate the task to another bishop.

While Dr Rowan Williams would continue to preside at all consecrations in the South of England, it would be a symbolic rather than legal requirement.

The move is hoped to appease traditionalists in the Church by freeing the Archbishop of Canterbury from personally consecrating women.

The consecration of women bishops is supported by both the Archbishop of Canterbury and his second-in-command, the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu.

The document will be debated at next month’s General Synod with a further debate scheduled for July.