First woman bishop named for Church of England

The first woman bishop to serve in the Church of England was named Wednesday in a historic step that follows years of sometimes contentious debate.

Downing Street announced that the Rev. Libby Lane, who was been a priest since 1994, will be the new bishop of  Stockport, in northern England. She will be consecrated as a bishop on January 26.

Her appointment brings to a close a thorny chapter in the church's recent history.

Women have been able to serve as priests in the Church of England since the early 1990s. But some traditionalists resisted the move to allow them to become bishops, culminating in the issue being narrowly voted down in 2012 by the General Synod, the three-times-a-year meeting that sets policies for the church.

Two years earlier, the church's governing body had narrowly rejected a measure, aimed at satisfying conservatives, that would have allowed parishes that opposed women bishops to have an additional male bishop.

A revised proposal was finally approved by Church of England leaders last month.

Speaking at a news conference in Stockport, Lane said she was grateful but also "somewhat daunted" to be chosen.