A year ago, the cathedral began providing communion bread blessed by a male priest for use when a woman was taking a service.
The concession was introduced after a female canon was appointed to the cathedral staff.
Now the cathedral has apologised for any hurt caused by that decision, but it has also acknowledged that the ordination of women priests still caused “sorrow and pain” to some Anglicans, and said it would continue to provide Sunday services taken by a male priest.
As many churches creak under the pressure to reform in line with contemporary life, modernisers and traditionalists in many of them are increasingly feeling that they have more in common with like-minded people in other denominations.