Church sexism row as female vicar banned in Dawn French’s former town
The Vicar of Dibley would surely chuckle at the irony – after a church near the former home of star Dawn French voted against having a woman priest.
St Fimbarrus in Fowey, Cornwall, is at the centre of a sexism storm over a resolution passed by the parish not to have a female vicar.
Despite being without a vicar for four years, a minority in the congregation said they could not stay in the church on theological grounds unless the priest was male.
Some residents expressed frustration yesterday – International Women’s Day – over the ‘misogynistic’ decision.
One said: ‘So Dawn French lived here, she played a female vicar, which is not good enough for her former home.’
Others recalled a famous scene in the BBC comedy when French’s Geraldine Granger is introduced as the new vicar and farmer Owen Newitt replies: ‘No, it isn’t! She’s a woman!’
Fowey’s parochial church council defended its decision, saying that, while the Bible is clear all are equal there is ‘debate over the roles women play within the church’.
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