Christians should pray for Prince George to be gay, says reverend
Holdsworth's comments have been hailed as "unkind" and "highly offensive" by Rev Gavin Ashenden.
A senior Anglican minister has claimed Christians should pray for Prince George to be gay to force support for same-sex marriage in the Church of England.
The Very Rev Kelvin Holdsworth, provost of St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow, is also an LGBTQ campaigner. He made the comments in a blog he reposted regarding LGBTQ inclusion in the Church of England following the announcement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's engagement.
The post, which was first spotted by Christian Today, reads: "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?" it continues.
His comments have been met with a mixed reaction, with Rev Gavin Ashenden, a former chaplain to the Queen, describing it as "unkind".
He also states that the remarks are "profoundly un-Christian" and that the prayer is the "theological equivalent of the curse of the wicked fairy in one of the fairy tales".
Ashenden told Christian Today: Ashenden said: "To pray for Prince George to grow up in that way, particularly when part of the expectation is he will inherit is to produce a biological heir with a woman he loves, is to pray in a way that would disable and undermine his constitutional and personal role.
"It is an unkind and destabilising prayer. It is the theological equivalent of the curse of the wicked fairy in one of the fairy tales. It is un-Christian as well as being anti-constitutional. It is a very long way from being a blessing for Prince George."
Some social media users have reacted positively to the blog post, with one person tweeting: "This made me laugh out loud, but there's actually a very valid point here. Brava @thurible!!"
Another said: "Kelvin Holdsworth @thurible did NOT pray that Prince George be gay. Just wondered what the church would do if that occurred".
While a third wasn't of the same mind, adding: "Rev Kelvin Holdsworth deserves to be defrocked for this. How can a Christian clergyman of all people manage to be even more loony than the looniest of the Loony Left? It's deeply disrespectful and highly offensive. The slow death of the West continues".
