A compromise that would have allowed Anglicans opposed to women bishops to live under an alternative male bishop was rejected by the Church of England’s General Synod on February 8—a move that could push traditionalist Anglicans toward the Roman Catholic Church.

Legislation allowing female bishops in Britain will probably be passed by 2014. They’ve already been ordained in the Anglican Church around the world.

The proposal was originally put forward by the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and the archbishop of York, John Sentamu, the two most senior archbishops, but it was rejected in July 2010. This time, the synod rejected most of the proposal, allowing for an amendment that would allow the bishops to fine tune the legislation further.

A final vote on the legislation will be held in July. It must be approved by two thirds of the bishops in the synod and the clergy before going to Parliament for approval.

Simon Killwick, leader of the Catholic group in the General Synod, told the bbc: “If nothing is changed between now and July then it will be a train crash, whichever way the vote goes.”

“If it passes it will be a train crash because the conservative Evangelicals and Catholics will feel alienated to say the least, but if it doesn’t pass then supporters of women bishops will be very angry,” he explained.

The Trumpet has pointed to these “Cracks in the Anglican Cathedral” for years. The Church of England seems to be about to tear itself to pieces over women bishops, as well as other divisive issues such as homosexuality. The homosexual dean of St. Albans, Jeffrey John, has threatened to take the church to court for discrimination because he has been stopped from becoming a bishop.

As these divisions widen, the Catholic Church is ready to absorb disaffected Anglicans through its personal ordinariate—a structure in the Catholic Church that allows converting Anglicans to keep many of their old practices. The Catholic Church will use this division to absorb more Anglicans.