Good news from Blackburn Cathedral. They have decided to withdraw the arrangement whereby people who objected to the ordination of women to the priesthood could receive bread pre-consecrated by a male priest at a service where a woman was officiating. This gave a sense of two-tier sacrament in a very unhelpful way, and I'm glad to see it will be discontinued.
For those within the C of E who continue to hold to a male-only priesthood, the arrangements put in place in the early 90s remain in force, so that there are parishes where only male clergy officiate. Cathedrals are a focus for the whole Diocese, and have to be places where all ordained by the Church of England as priest can, at least in theory, officiate.
There will, of course, be services where men preside in the overall Cathedral programme, so this doesn't mean traditionalists are excluded.
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