A FOOTY-MAD parish priest has used his hand of God to lower St George's Cross causing uproar in a Solihull village.
Fuming Rev Keith Claringbull, priest in charge of St Mary and St Batholomew church at Hampton-in-Arden, explained that he lowered the flag to half-mast because he was "appalled" with England's display against Portugal last Saturday.
"I feel almost a sense of shame to be called English," he told the Solihull News.
"It was not so much that England lost the match that concerned me but the way some of the players behaved on the pitch.
"What Wayne Rooney did - stamping on the most sensitive part of an opponent's anatomy - was embarrassing for everyone, not just those who follow football. I'm not surprised he has been called a thug."
The football-loving priest, a former Franciscan friar who worked among the poor in the East End of London, said the cross of St George had been flying from the church tower since April.
"Many St George's flags have been displayed in around the village during the World Cup but ours in the biggest. I don't regret lowering the flag to half-mast. I did it to make a point."
But the Rev Claringbull has come under fire from some Hampton villagers.
One local, who asked not to be named, said: "The cross of St George's flag should be flown to mark saints' days and important national events but I am against it being used to make any kind of personal or political statement."
Another resident, who also wanted to remain anonymous, said: "I am disgusted with what the parish priest has done. He didn't have the permission of the parochial church council or anybody else in authority. I'm thinking of writing to the Bishop of Birmingham to complain."
