Wednesday 13 February 2008

Minister Quits in Veil Row

The Bishop of London has asked the Reverend Green, vicar of St Cluedo’s church, Balham, to resign after he refused to perform a marriage ceremony because the bride turned up wearing a veil. Reverend Green left the church without explaining his reasons, but said later that he felt there were identity issues. He noted that the bride was all fat and wide and that they had had to take the door off to get her inside.

A statement from the General Synod of the Church of England said: "Reverend Green is concerned about questions of identity when the full veil is worn in church; in this particular case the bride was so big that he felt that there may have been two people behind the veil, or possibly a horse."

"However, he agrees that he acted unwisely in absenting himself without giving reasons, and acknowledges that he should have sought the advice of his Bishop, and that there could have been a perfectly reasonable explanation for the size of the bride i.e. she was up the duff, as brides so often are."

The local MP has condemned the Bishop, saying: "People are fed up to the back teeth with continual concessions to small, awkward minority groups like the Church of England."

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