COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters):
THE UNITED States Episcopal Church chose Bishop Katharine Schori yesterday as the first woman leader of the 2.3 million-member denomination, a vote likely to produce more controversy in a group already divided over the ordination of its first openly homosexual bishop.
Her election came 30 years after the Episcopalians, the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, approved the ordination of women to the priesthood. The selection seemed likely to provoke controversy, since most other Anglican communities, including the Church of England, do not allow women bishops.
Schori, who holds degrees in biology and oceanography and taught religious studies at Oregon State University before her 1994 ordination, was selected by bishops attending the church's triennial convention from a field of several candidates.
