A vicar has apologised after accidentally “ruining” Christmas for children by telling them Santa isn’t real. Rev Paul Chamberlain also told the primary school pupils it was their parents who buy their presents and eat the biscuits they leave out on Christmas Eve.
The vicar was taking an RE lesson for ten and eleven-year-olds when he reportedly made the remarks. The clergyman’s diocese said Rev Chamberlain accepted that his comments about Father Christmas had been an “error of judgement” and he should not have made them.
The Times reports that the incident happened at Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School in Hampshire. One parent told the paper that “lots of children started crying in class” after the festive bombshell from the vicar of St Faith’s. The parent continued: “Mine was upset but she still believes so I’m quite lucky she’s still not believing him and she thinks he’s lost the plot. I think it’s wrong, but a lot of parents have had to confess to their child.” The school has since apologised but one parent told The Times the apology “can’t bring the magic back”.
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Responding to the incident a spokesperson for the Diocese of Portsmouth said that after talking about the nativity story from the Bible the vicar “made some comments about the existence of Father Christmas”. The spokesperson said: “Paul has accepted that this was an error of judgment and he should not have done so. He apologised unreservedly to the school, to the parents and to the children, and the headteacher immediately wrote to all parents to explain this. The school and diocese have worked together to address this issue, and the headteacher has now written to parents a second time, sending them Paul’s apology.”