Libby Lane consecrated first Anglican bishop

The service at York Minster in northern England was held just six months after the Church voted for the first time to allow women to become bishops. Bishops are entrusted with a position of authority and oversight within the hierarchy.

Lane is a 48-year-old mother of two, married to the Reverend George Lane, also a Church of England priest and the coordinating chaplain at Manchester Airport.

The Church's newest Bishop was one of the first to be ordained as a vicar twenty years ago and has been based at a church near Manchester since 2007. She has also served as Dean of Women in Ministry in the Chester in the northwest of England.

"If my appointment encourages a single young woman to lift her eyes up a bit and to realise that she has capacity and potential and that her environment or those around her don't need to dictate what is possible for her, then I'd be really honoured," Lane said in an interview published by the Church magazine.

Lane's appointment has been celebrated as a step forward for gender equality by the spiritual head of the Church, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Many others, including Prime Minister David Cameron, welcomed Lane's appointment, announced in December.

Women already serve as bishops in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but Anglican churches in many countries, particularly in Africa, do not ordain women as priests.

The historic ceremony on Monday was performed by the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, the Church's first black bishop. It included the highly symbolic, spiritual and formal "lay on of hands" during which all the bishops and archbishops present are expected to lay their hands on the individual and pray for them.

Divided church

However, in a move seen as conciliatory towards conservative elements in the church, the Archbishop will not 'lay hands' on Reverend Phillip North when he becomes Bishop of Burnley next week. North, a member of the conservative Company of Mission Priests group who do not marry, has opposed women as bishops.

At North's consecration only two bishops, neither of whom has consecrated a female bishop, will lay hands on him.

The decision has been criticized by women's groups within the church, including Women and the Church who issued a statement saying: "We are saddened that there will be such a powerful visual sign of a divided College and House of Bishops at the moment of consecration."

There have been suggestions the Anglican Church was trying to balance the pro-female bishop lobby with more conservative elements. But Archbishop Sentamu rejected the claim, and issued a statement saying: "Any suggestion that the arrangements proposed for the consecration of the Bishop of Burnley are influenced by a theology of 'taint' would be mistaken."

The Church's new Bishop of Stockport is a school governor and keen on social action initiatives. Her interests include learning to play the saxophone, supporting football team Manchester United, and doing cryptic crosswords.

jm/msh (AFP, Reuters)