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Hi, Mike —
Many of the faithful who attend Mass
in the Extraordinary Form are sensitive
about the issue of female altar servers.
They want to preserve the tradition
of male servers, for various, good
reasons.
Yet there is a legal anomaly: because
the permission for women servers
is based on the Code of Canon Law,
and not on some rubrics in the Missal,
the permission is independent of
which form of Mass is being said.
For that reason, it actually is legal
to have female altar servers now
at Masses in the old form!
However,
for the peace of the parish, priests
should not avail themselves of the
option. Doing so would offend a
lot of people who attend
the Tridentine Mass, and that would be contrary to the Pope's goals in allowing the old Mass to be celebrated
freely: he wants there to be more
peace in the Church.
No one can insist on having female
servers: the priest celebrant always
has the right to work with male servers
only (in the old or new form of Mass).
This is distinct from the question
of a female sacristan, which I've
already discussed in the previous
reply.
— RC
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