Religion: Anglicans Relent

The last major Protestant holdout against a female ministry began to weaken this month when a powerful group of international Anglican leaders gave member churches permission to ordain women. At the end of a two-week session in Nairobi, members of the Anglican Consultative Council voted 24 to 22 to "accept the action of any bishop, who, with the approval of his province, decided to admit a woman to the ministry." The decision will affect some 47 million members of the Anglican Communion in 90 countries.

The phrase "approval of his province" means that bishops should have the consent of the national church....