The US Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop predicted other denominations would follow his church's example, even as conservative Anglicans erupted in fury at his appointment.
"I suspect that before too very long, other denominations will also follow and welcome openly gay and lesbian people into leadership positions," Reverend Gene Robinson said after his confirmation late Tuesday.
"That's my prayer."
The 56-year-old cleric became the bishop of New Hampshire following a turbulent confirmation process, that was even suspended briefly so church elders could investigate allegations of sexual misconduct and links to pornographic websites.
Robinson, who was accompanied by his male partner of 13 years at this week's general convention, was cleared of any wrongdoing and mustered enough votes to get official approval.
Speaking after Tuesday's highly contentious vote, Robinson said he viewed the development as "the first very big step in the full inclusion of gay and lesbian people in our church."
"Just as Jesus reached out to people on the fringes and brought them in, that's what the Episcopal Church is doing with this vote."
Those comments are unlikely to sit well with conservatives in the two-million strong Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Church, many of whom believe the vote has taken the church to the point of crisis.
Conservatives have characterised the landmark decision as variously a "betrayal," "a train wreck," and a "pastoral emergency," and are threatening to realign themselves, possibly under the jurisdiction of another Anglican denomination.
"This catastrophic decision cannot simply be allowed to pass away into history as a one-off abberation," Peter Jensen Anglican archbishop of Sydney, Australia, said in a statement.
"It represents a time for decision by mainstream, biblical Anglicans around the world and undoubtedly will result in a significant realignment of relationship within the communion."
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the ecclesiastical head of the Anglican Church, has predicted there will be "difficult days" ahead and urged all sides to take time for reflection.
But one of the 19 US bishops who spoke immediately after the vote in Minneapolis did not appear to be in the mood for mollification.
"What has happened today has revealed the cancer in the body of Christ," said the Reverend John David Schofield, from San Joaquin, California, denying at the same time that he or his like-minded colleagues were "fearmongers."
At the root of the rift is the conservatives' view that the homosexual lifestyle runs counter to Scripture.
But Robinson, a divorced father-of-two who said he had struggled with his sexuality for most of his life, said the Bible does not expressly speak out against "faithful monogamous life-long ... relationships of people of the same sex."