Letter: Women priests

DOES Neal Ascherson honestly believe that opposition to the ordination of women is entirely based on 'authoritarian prejudice' ('Now the good news - people are turning soft', 27 December)? The whole argument is posited on the question of authority, not gender. Can the Church of England allow that which has not been countenanced in 2,000 years?

Piers McGrandle

Padstow, Cornwall