Bishop Michael Bruce Curry gave an impassioned address during the wedding ceremony (AFP Photo/Owen Humphreys) |
Windsor
(United Kingdom) (AFP) - US pastor Michael Curry fired up Britain's royal
wedding on Saturday with some dramatic oratory about the power of love that
bemused the royal family but made him a social media hit.
Curry, the
first African-American leader of the US Episcopal Church, opened his
full-throttle sermon in front of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in St George's
Chapel at Windsor Castle by quoting Martin Luther King.
"We
must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do
that, we will be able to make of this old world a new world," he said,
quoting the US civil rights icon.
With
rhetorical flourish, the 65-year-old from Chicago said: "There's power in
love. Don't underestimate it. Don't even over-sentimentalise. There is power,
power in love.
"I'm
talking about some power. Real power. Power to change the world," said
Curry, who heads up the US branch of the Anglican church and is renowned as an
animated and lively preacher.
Members of
the royal family looked visibly bemused, not only at the lectern-banging,
theatrical style and impassioned content -- but also his lengthy, off-script
freestyling.
'Extraordinary and powerful'
The
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the leader of the world's Anglicans who
married the happy couple, called it an "extraordinary and powerful
sermon".
In the
Windsor streets, crowds of royal fans watching on giant screens reacted with
amusement at his 13-and-a-half-minute speech.
"He's
STILL going on!" one man shouted from the crowd.
Kristin
Glithero, 45, from nearby Wokingham, told AFP: "I wasn't expecting this
American preacher. It is nice to see something a bit different.
"His
message was lovely and the way he delivered it was very powerful. But maybe too
long for the British public!"
At a street
party in east London, retiree Janet Price, 69, told AFP: "It didn't go
down well with some of the royals, judging by their faces."
Watching on
a giant screen in Leeds, northern England, David Fryer said: "There was
one little blip in the proceedings where the archbishop of wherever he was from
just went on -- and on, and on, and on."
Star of
the show
But
reactions on social media were far more positive and he was trending worldwide
on Twitter.
Fraser
Nelson, editor of The Spectator magazine, said he had stolen the show, as maid
of honour Pippa Middleton did with her figure-hugging dress at her sister
Kate's 2011 wedding to Prince William, Harry's brother.
"If
Pippa was the unexpected star of Kate's wedding, Michael Curry is the star of this
one. Wonderful, wonderful sermon," he wrote, offering the preacher a
column.
Formula One
commentator David Croft said: "I haven't heard anyone talk as passionately
as that about the Power Of Love since Huey Lewis and the News."
The Times
newspaper columnist Hugo Rifkind tweeted: "I love how the entire British
royal family is visibly dying of embarrassment because somebody is shouting
openly about love at a wedding."
Curry also
referred to slaves singing spirituals about the healing power of love in their
captivity.
The
ancestors of Doria Ragland, the African-American mother of bride Meghan Markle,
were slaves and her surname is that of a slave owner.
"I
cannot believe there is a pastor talking about slave spirituals at a dang royal
wedding. Hello 21st century," wrote one Twitter user, @kateyrich.
"This
Reverend just won the Royal Wedding," wrote @nat_sinclair93.
Curry's
sermon also featured lighter moments.
"Two
young people fell in love and we all showed up," he told the crowd,
prompting an outburst of laughter.
Finishing
up, he turned to the couple and smiled, exclaiming: "We gotta get y'all
married!"
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