A conservative cleric in Newcastle has been consecrated a renegade bishop without the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, his church has confirmed.
Rev Jonathan Pryke, of Jesmond Parish Church, is one of three rebel bishops to be appointed by conservatives concerned about a liberal drift in the Church of England over homosexuality.
In a secret ceremony last Tuesday, the presiding bishop of deeply conservative Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa (REACH-SA) consecrated Pryke, a statement confirmed.