The News Minute| November 19, 2014| 5.14 pm IST

The Church of England passed legislation on Tuesday that would allow women to be ordained as bishops. The Anglican churches in India, however, have already been appointing women since 1996.

The Church of England, which is seen as one of the most revered members of the global Anglican community finally decided to make an amendment to their ancient laws that only permitted male priests to be promoted to higher positions such as a bishop.

In India, The Good Samaritan Evangelical Lutheran Mission, one of the major Christian denominations in India, had appointed Reverend A Katakshamma as their bishop 18 years ago. In 2013, the Church of South India appointed Reverend E Pushpalalitha their first female bishop.

(Image: Rev. E. Pushpalalitha)

In India, the Anglican family of churches, include major denominations such Church of South India, Church of North India, Marthoma Church and Methodist Church.

“We welcome the Church of England’s move to include women as bishops,” said Solomon Raja, who is a member of the Church of South India. “We have been practicing this for a while now, and it seems as though we have set a good example for all the other churches in the world. We are proud that the Church of England has followed in our footsteps.”

The Church of England has always had women clergy as part of it, but they could never hold a higher position. Worldwide, there are approximately 20 female bishops and the Church of England plans to add to that number from next year onwards.