Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry to Speak at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Windsor Wedding

Kensington Palace announced on Saturday that Michael Bruce Curry, presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church in the United States, will take part in the wedding of Prince Harry and American Meghan Markle on May 19. Curry will speak during the ceremony at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, west of London.

In a statement released by Kensington Palace, Curry said: “The love that has brought together and will bind Prince Harry to Meghan Markle has its source and origin in God; it is the key to life and happiness.”

Curry will officiate alongside Reverend David Conner, Dean of Windsor, who is the spiritual leader of the canons of St George’s Chapel and will conduct the wedding ceremony. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will preside over the exchange of vows. A native of Chicago who is 65 years old, Curry has been presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church since November 2015. He is the first African American to hold the position.

The Episcopal Church caused a rupture with the Anglican Communion in 2003, when it decided to ordain Gene Robinson, an openly gay American, as Bishop of New Hampshire, a situation that shows how difficult it can be to live at peace with others (Romans 12:18). In 2006, the church became the first in the communion to elect a woman as its head, Katharine Jefferts Schori. The Episcopal Church is one of the member churches of the Anglican Communion, which brings together Anglican churches around the world, including the Church of England.

The British monarch, Elizabeth II, is the head of the Church of England, while its spiritual leader is the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.

Meghan Markle was baptized and confirmed according to the Anglican rite in March. She had previously been Protestant. She reportedly chose to join the Church of England out of respect for the role of Elizabeth II, Harry’s grandmother.

Catholics are excluded from the line of succession to the British throne. Until 2013, this exclusion also applied to heirs married to Catholics. The monarch takes an oath to preserve the Church of England and to maintain a Protestant succession to the throne.

Source: Read the original report (translated from French)