A Catholic bishop has accused the gay community of leading a “conspiracy” against Christianity by allying itself with Holocaust survivors.

The Bishop of Motherwell, Joseph Devine, says a “homosexual lobby” has aligned itself with minority groups, including Holocaust survivors, to gain persecuted status.

He said there was a “huge and well orchestrated conspiracy” taking place in the “gay movement”, which the Catholic Church neglected “at our peril”.

The bishop, who has previously spoken out against the Labour government’s support for civil partnerships, said the “lobby” was “ever present” at services for Holocaust Memorial Day. “The impression is that they have been equally persecuted,” he said.

In an attack on openly gay actor Sir Ian McKellen the bishop said: “I saw actor Ian McKellen being honoured for his work on behalf of homosexuals, when a century ago Oscar Wilde was locked up and put in jail.”

He made the comments during a lecture on “Christian faith and inconvenient questions” in Glasgow on Tuesday and has since stood by them, “These groups are defending their position, I am defending mine”, he said. “It is all about a lifestyle alien to the Christian tradition. There is a giant conspiracy against Christian values, an agenda here."

A spokesman defended the bishop's comments, "Anything which attacks the sanctity of marriage and the family will be opposed by the church," he said. Civil partnerships are "an abuse" of the church's teaching on marriage, he told Times Online.

Christine Shaw, head of Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said it was important to remember all the victims of the Holocaust “be they Jewish, disabled, gay or lesbian people".

“The day is also about learning the lessons of the past to encourage society to tackle all forms of prejudice, including anti-Semitism, racism and homophobia,” she said.

Calum Irving, director of Stonewall Scotland, which promotes equality and justice for gay people, said the bishop was “deluded”.

He told The Scotsman: “Such a continued attack on gay people is distinctly un-Christian and deeply out of step with the views of most Scots today.”