CHRISTIANS should pray for Prince George to be gay, a senior Scottish Episcopal Church minister has said.
Writing in a blog, the Very Rev Kelvin Holdsworth, provost of St Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow, says followers of Christ should pray “for the Lord to bless Prince George with a love, when he grows up, of a fine young gentleman”.
The suggestion, part of a list of recommendations to make the Church of England more LGBT inclusive, has sparked outrage among conservative Christians.
A former chaplain to the Queen called the comments “profoundly un-Christian.
Holdsworth wrote the blog post more than a year ago but he shared it again on social media soon after the announcement of Prince Harry’s engagement to Meghan Markle.
Holdsworth wrote: “If people don’t want to engage in campaigning in this way, they do in England have another unique option, which is to pray in the privacy of their hearts (or in public if they dare) for the Lord to bless Prince George with a love, when he grows up, of a fine young gentleman.”
“A royal wedding might sort things out remarkably easily, though we might have to wait 25 years for that to happen.
“Who knows whether that might be sooner than things might work out by other means?”
The Rev Gavin Ashenden, an honorary chaplain to the Queen between 2008 and earlier this year, said Holdsworth’s call was “profoundly un-Christian”.
He said: “If you’re going to pray for Prince George, pray for him to be happy ... and pray for him to discharge his duty as prince, to be married and have children.
“It is not a kind prayer. It is not a blessing, it’s more like a curse from a fairytale. I would say it’s profoundly un-Christian.”
Holdsworth, who is gay, played a key role in campaigning for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Scottish Episcopal churches.
He wants the Church of England, which holds that marriage should be between only a man and a woman, to follow suit.
There is one openly gay member of the wider royal family, 53-year-old Lord Ivar Mountbatten. A distant cousin of the Queen, he came out last year.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry and Markle were greeted by wellwishers as they arrived in Nottingham yesterday for their first official visit together.
The pair attended a Terrence Higgins Trust charity fair marking World Aids Day.
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