BRITAIN: The Church of England may adopt a "men-only branch" as one way of defusing a row over women bishops in congregations already deeply divided over gay priests.
But church leaders who spent three years sounding out Anglicans on the vexed issue stressed that a branch served only by male clergy was just one of the options being pondered.
The General Synod of the Church of England is to review the report next February - but it could be at least four years before a decision is made on women bishops.
They are currently permitted in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. Australia discussed allowing them at a national synod last month but rejected the idea.
The Church of England ordained its first women priests 10 years ago after a heated and divisive debate. Now one in six of England's 11,000 parish priests is a woman.
Supporters of women bishops believe it is high time they are allowed to break through the "stained glass ceiling" in the church hierarchy.
But opponents point out Jesus Christ chose only men as his apostles, arguing that this rules out women as leaders in the modern-day church.
Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali, presenting his report, said the issue had stirred up impassioned debate in the 11-strong working party.
"It was quite difficult emotionally and psychologically for one side to hear the other out," he said after they received 700 submissions from two sharply divided camps.
But he was still confident the Church of England could follow the same path as the North Americans and New Zealanders in the Anglican Church which, in contrast to the hierarchical Roman Catholic Church, relies very much on consensus.
"If the Church decides to ordain women, we think it will be possible, given good will on every side, to maintain the unity of the Church," the bishop told reporters.
Good will has been in short supply as conservatives and traditionalists traded insults over same-sex marriages in Canada and the ordination of gay American bishop Gene Robinson.