The explanation is that the earth-bound Pensions Regulator has less faith than the vicars in equities.

BBC: Holy pension hole

When women were first allowed to become Church of England vicars, in 1992, the authorities narrowly averted a split by allowing individual parishes to reject women clergy.

ECONOMIST: Godly gays seek brotherly love | The

In the courtyard, the stone St Patrick's cross replicates the worn original in the Rock of Cashel's 15th-century Hall of the Vicars Choral, which was built to house the cathedral's male choristers.

BBC: Who was the real St Patrick?

Indeed, the rule has already been breached: Anglican priests upset at their church's decision to admit women as vicars were allowed to convert to Catholicism even if they were married.

ECONOMIST: The pope's succession planning | The

Vicars, vergers and wardens at Waltham held a crisis meeting on Friday night to assess the damage while volunteers helped clean up - but it will be days before repair work can be organised.

BBC: Prayers said at damaged abbey

The killing jar was introduced in the 1850s, after the royal physician used chloroform to ease the delivery of Queen Victoria's eighth child, and net-wielding country vicars across Great Britain realized they could amass their collections of marbled whites and Camberwell beauties without overt violence.

NPR: Excerpt: 'At Large and At Small'