Bishop hits out over Goody outburst

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Bishop Jonathan Blake, of the Open Episcopal Church, admonished the 74-year-old broadcaster for putting the "boot in to a young woman so recently buried".

Parkinson - writing in the Radio Times days after Goody's funeral - described her as "barely educated, ignorant and puerile".

He wrote: "When we clear the media smokescreen from around her death, what we're left with is a woman who came to represent all that's paltry and wretched about Britain today."

In a robust retort on his blog, Bishop Blake argued that Goody, who died of cervical cancer at the age of 27, had risen from humble beginnings to achieve an "immense amount" in her short life.

This, he said, was due to "her inherent gifts and untutored intelligence".

Parkinson also claimed Goody was "the perfect victim of our times", adding that she "died to an orchestrated chorus of exploitation".

He went on: "Jade Goody has her own place in the history of television and, while it's significant, it's nothing to be proud of.

"Her death is as sad as the death of any young person, but it's not the passing of a martyr or a saint or, God help us, Princess Di."