THE former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, has spoken out in support of the intruders at Buckingham Palace, arguing that they were “right to draw attention” to their plight.

He said that the actions of the Fathers 4 Justice campaigners were born out of society’s “sad and sorry departure” from traditional marriage and the increasingly commonplace phenomenon of fatherless families. He also called for a radical rethink of the orthodox Christian understanding of marriage, which is based on St Paul’s dictum that “the man is the head of the woman”.

Lord Carey, whose roots are in the evangelical wing of the Church, said: “It is time we deepened the Christian account of marriage by minimising marriage as hierarchy and emphasising marriage as partnership and equality based on differences.”

Lord Carey, addressing the Mothers’ Union in the Bath and Wells diocese where he served as bishop before becoming archbishop, said that the West was in the middle of a dramatic cultural and social revolution with far-reaching consequences for society.

Marriage breakdown was attacking the family, “the oldest human social institution, the first and vital cell of society”, he said.

“This great institution of marriage is under attack in the Western world.

“Never has it been so easy to break those timeless marriage vows and never has it been harder for an estranged couple to reunite.” Referring to The Times’ iGeneration poll findings, which showed that 41 per cent of young people do not value marriage, he said: “This could have arisen from their own experience of divorced and estranged parents.”

Lord Carey called on the Church and the Mothers’ Union to take action, such as in giving warning about “the influence of television”, adding: “Perhaps we have not noticed that that box in the corner has now become the dominant influence on our values.” Lord Carey said: “The media is the newest member of our family and, by far, the most seditious.

“Indeed, it has to be said that if one asks the average person which group in society bears the most responsibility in shaping our moral behaviour, the unhesitating reply is often the media.”

He said that the Church must also take responsibility for the situation, having for centuries assigned a submissive and compliant role to married women, which no longer bore relation to reality.

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