London, England - The worldwide Anglican Church could one day be led by a woman despite widespread divisions over the ordination of female clergy, under proposals published in an internal report.
Under proposals submitted to the church's House of Bishops, all bishops' posts would be open to women -- including that of Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Anglican Church worldwide.
However, the Crown Nominations Commission, which approves such appointments, would be able to block such a move if it considered that either the Church of England or the wider Anglican community was not ready for a woman in the post.
The proposals put forward by a group led by Bishop of Guildford Christopher Hill also offers compromises to opponents of women clergy, for example allowing for the appointment of a group of male bishops to care for parishes which rejected female bishops.
The Church of England first ordained women priests in 1994, a move which sparked controversy and resulted in a walkout by some traditionalists. More than 1,000 parishes have voted to reject women priests.
The Anglican Church is also bitterly split over the separate issue of homosexual clergy.
The report stressed that no female bishop would be likely before around 2012, and warned against placing too much stress on the thus far hypothetical idea of a woman as Archbishop of Canterbury.
"It is quite likely to be some time after the admission of women to the episcopate (rank of bishops) before there would be both a vacancy and a female candidate for the primacy (Archbishop of Canterbury)," it said.
"Vacancies do not arise very often -- in the whole of the 20th century there were just nine."
The report will be debated next month by the governing General Synod of the Church of England, with a further debate scheduled for July.
"We do not minimise the difficulty the choices now facing the church. There is no course of action, including the status quo, that is free of pain and risk," Hill warned in an introduction to the report.
At a news conference in London to launch the report, he rejected the notion of a separate arm of the church for those who refused to accept women.
"Even if some want wholly open plan arrangements, while others want a semi-detached, or even a separate house, we believe the Church of England should have enough rooms -- with inter-connecting doors -- in our traditionally inclusive household of faith," he said.
The proposals follow a vote by the General Synod in July to begin the process which could lead to the consecration of women bishops.