The Bishop of Ebbsfleet, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, has called on the Pope as well as Catholic leaders in England and Wales to help him and his parishioners defect to Rome.
He hopes entire parishes under his control will convert but be allowed to remain worshipping in their existing churches, while guided by Catholic bishops.
Bishop Burnham, one of the three "flying bishops" in England who look after parishes which do not want women priests, has already been to the Vatican to discuss a possible move.
He said his decision had been forced by the vote on Monday night by the Church of England's governing body, the General Synod, to introduce women bishops without any special provisions for Anglo-Catholics and conservative evangelicals who believe bishops must be male as Jesus and his apostles were.
The bishop claimed he could not trust the as-yet-unwritten code of practice which has been promised as a safeguard to opponents of the historic step, after tougher proposals were turned down for new "men only" dioceses or a more powerful form of flying bishop dubbed "super bishops".
His decision could trigger an exodus of traditionalists who believe they no longer have a place in the Church of England.
Hundreds left for Rome after the decision to ordain women as priests in 1992 and legislation passed the following year created the class of flying bishops to care for parishes which did not want to be under the authority of a female priest.
More than 1,300 clergy had already signed a petition threatening to leave if women are ordained as bishops without special provisions, and The Sunday Telegraph disclosed this week that several bishops have held secret talks in the Vatican.
But Bishop Burnham is the first to say publicly that Monday's vote, following an emotional six-hour debate which left one bishop in tears, will lead to his departure from the Church of England.
In an article in the Catholic Herald, he wrote: "Codes of practice are shifting sands. The sacramental life of the Church must be built on rock.
"How could we trust a code of practice to deliver a workable ecclesiology if every suggestion we have made for our inclusion has been turned down flat?"
"What we must humbly ask for now is for magnanimous gestures from our Catholic friends, especially from the Holy Father, who well understands our longing for unity, and from the hierarchy of England and Wales. Most of all we ask for ways that allow us to bring our folk with us."
Bishop Burnham told The Daily Telegraph he has not yet begun the process of his personal conversion. He is waiting for a formal response from the Vatican about the possibility of special provisions which would allow his 120 parishes in the south of England to continue using their churches and possibly some Anglican prayers, if they convert.
He said: "It's not a solo mission. It's about the people I care for."
A spokesman for the Catholic Church of England and Wales said all new members are welcome, but added that each must join individually and parishes could not simply convert en masse.
On Tuesday the Vatican condemned the Synod's decision to ordain women as bishops and yesterday the Russian Orthodox Church claimed the vote will "worsen a split" in the Anglican Communion.
"This decision is of course painful in the inter-Christian dialogue, as it is further alienating the Anglican community from the Apostolic tradition," added Priest Igor Vyzhanov, secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations.
