Church of England bars Desmond Tutu’s daughter from leading funeral

Mpho Tut van Furth – the daughter of the late Desmond Tutu, has been barred from leading the funeral for her godfather by the Church of England because she is married to a woman. 

Mpho Tut van Furth is an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Washington and she had been asked to officiate the funeral of her late-godfather Martin Keyon. 

Her godfather Martin Keyon became an internet sensation in 2020 after his hilarious CNN interview after he was one of the first UK citizens to receive a Covid vaccine. 

The Church of England does not permit its clergy to be in a same-sex marriage but its sister Anglican church in the US, The Episcopal Church, does allow clergy to enter into gay marriages.

“Advice was given in line with the House of Bishops current guidance on same-sex marriage,” a statement from the Diocese of Hereford said.

The former Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev Paul Bayes, who is a campaigner for the church to change its position on sexuality, said to “plead that things are difficult is not good enough”.

Mr Kenyon’s family moved the funeral service from St Michael and All Angels in Wentnor, near Bishops Castle, to a marquee in the vicarage next door so Ms Tutu van Furth could officiate and preach. 

“It’s incredibly sad,” Ms Tutu van Furth told BBC News. “It feels like a bureaucratic response with maybe a lack of compassion.

“It seemed really churlish and hurtful. But as sad as that was, there was the joy of having a celebration of a person who could throw open the door to people who are sometimes excluded.”

Mr Kenyon was close friends with the late Desmond Tutu.