Still Running Off at the Keyboard

Following six hours of debate on Monday, which saw one bishop in tears, the Synod rejected both the super-bishops proposal as well as the traditionalists' preferred option of new dioceses for objectors.

BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Piggot said the vote had been conclusive and was accompanied by emotional scenes.

But traditionalists have warned that the decision could hasten the prospect of a split within the Church.

Conservatives who oppose the liberalisation of Church teaching on issues such as homosexuality have already set up the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FoCA), which has promised to set up a council of bishops.

During the debate at the University of York, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said he would be in favour of "a more rather than a less robust" form of accommodating traditionalists....

The Rt Rev John Broadhurst, the Bishop of Fulham and a traditionalist, told Newsnight that the vote could lead to a split.

"I think a lot of us have made it quite clear if there isn't proper provision for us to live in dignity, inevitably we're driven out," he said.

"It's not a case of walking away."

Read the entire BBC report here.