[Anglican Communion News Service] The Church of South India has today appointed its first female bishop.

The Rev. Eggoni Pushpalalitha was ordained in 1983 and has most recently served as a priest in the Diocese of Nadyal in Andhra Pradesh.

Her appointment comes only days after the Church of Ireland elected its first female bishop, the Rev. Pat (Patricia) Storey as the new bishop of Meath and Kildare.

Mani M. Philip, provincial secretary of the Church of South India, confirmed that Pushpalalitha had been appointed by the Synod Selection Board this afternoon.

“We have been ordaining women since 1976,” he told ACNS, adding that in its constitution the province mandates that at least 25 percent of all statutory bodies should be women.

Bishop-designate Pushpalalitha is expected to be installed on Sept. 30.

One of the 38 member churches of the Anglican Communion, the Church of South India is a “united” church — the result of the union of churches of varying traditions Anglican, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed. It was inaugurated in September 1947.