London (AFP) – The Church of England waded into Britain’s increasingly bad-tempered European Union membership referendum Tuesday by issuing a prayer for use ahead of the June 23 vote.
“God of truth, give us grace to debate the issues in this referendum with honesty and openness,” the prayer opens.
“Give generosity to those who seek to form opinion and discernment to those who vote”.
The ten-line prayer was released by the church four days after US President Barack Obama spoke in London urging Britain to remain in the EU.
Obama’s intervention has exacerbated tensions between the “Remain” camp, led by Prime Minister David Cameron, and the “Leave” camp, whose dominant figure is London Mayor Boris Johnson.
Some 54 percent of voters are on course to vote “Remain” while 46 percent will back “Leave”, according to an aggregate of the six most recent opinion polls by academics at the What UK Thinks project.
The Church of England has not taken a position on how people should vote in the referendum.
Although under a million people out of a 53 million population attend Church of England services each week, the church has a deep presence in English society, with churches in most towns and villages.
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