A priest and daughter of South African Anglican cleric and human right activist, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rev. Mpho Tutu Van Furth, has been defrocked by the Anglican Church for marrying a woman, Marceline van Furth.
A Dutch and an atheist professor, Furth and her groom, Tutu, a priest of the South African Anglican church married last year’s December.
Twice they declared their love for each other. First in Netherland in December and last month in Cape Town.
And shortly after the marriage, Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu van Furth who followed her father into a life in the Anglican church, and became a priest was defrocked by her diocese.
“It was incredibly sad for me.
“A few years ago I celebrated the Eucharist with my father… and now to be in a position that I cannot serve at the alter with him… I was surprised by how much it hurt,” she told BBC.
However, she’s still a priest in the United States-based Episcopal Church, where she was ordained in 2003.
Though same-sex marriage is legal in South Africa, the Anglican church in the country is strongly opposed to it. Interestingly, her father 83-year-old Archbishop Tutu, is a long-standing campaigner for gay rights.
