A 12-year-old girl has become a bishop for 45 minutes as part of a cathedral's long-running tradition.

       Chorister Isabel Moss donned the bishop's cope, mitre and ring and carried the staff to lead a service at Salisbury Cathedral on Sunday.

       She sat in the intricately carved Cathedra – or bishop's throne – to deliver a sermon and lead the choir and congregation in prayer.

       Isabel, who is from London but boards at Salisbury Cathedral School in Wiltshire, is the latest in a long line of chorister bishops.

       The tradition dates back to medieval times when a boy chorister would hold the office of bishop from the Feast of St Nicholas – the patron saint of children – on Dec 6 until the Feast of the Holy Innocents on Dec 28.

       During that time, he could appoint clergy and distribute the church's money as he saw fit.

       Henry VIII put a stop to the practice of appointing child bishops in 1541, declaring it a distraction from proper church business.

       Salisbury Cathedral revived the practice in its present form in the 1980s. Nowadays, the chorister bishop only holds the role for the service and is as likely to be a girl as a boy.

       Being chosen for the temporary role is a great honour and marks a chorister's contribution to the choir and cathedral music. Isabel not only sings with the choir but also plays piano and flute, likes art and is a member of the school's hockey team.

       David Halls, the director of music at Salisbury Cathedral, said: "Isabel is an exceptionally good singer and an excellent role model for the younger choristers.

       "She has been in the choir for four years and was made a senior chorister in September. She knows how to work hard but also enjoy life, which is exactly what we want our choristers to do. Singing with a cathedral choir is a big responsibility – but it is also great fun."