Priest tells seven-year-olds: Santa doesn't exist

Tidings of comfort and joy? Bah, humbug!

A priest has landed himself in hot water by casting doubt on the story of Christmas. Not the religious one with angels and a famous baby but the children’s favourite starring Santa.

Father Dennis Higgins dared to suggest to seven-year-olds from St Anne’s Catholic Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire, that Santa and his elves were part of a fictional narrative. They should, he said, pay more attention to celebrating Jesus’s birth than await a stockingful of gifts.

The comments were made at a mass held at Buxton’s St Thomas More Catholic School.

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