Church of England forced to defend World Cup ‘hand of God’ prayer

The Church of England has defended a World Cup prayer that was widely mocked online. The church said it created the prayer as an attempt to “engage people beyond” its regular followers, after a clergy member said it had been “widely ridiculed online”. Some commentary online saw it branded “cringe” while others questioned whether it was parody. Published on the first day of the tournament last month, it called on people to “see and celebrate the hand of God” and referenced “missed penalties, muddled VARs (video assistant referees)”. Ahead of the Church’s parliament – known as the General Synod – meeting from Friday in York, members posed questions about how the prayer had been put together and who had signed it off. Reverend Jeremy Moodey, representing the Diocese of Oxford, said in his written question to Synod that the prayer had been “widely ridiculed online for its religious illiteracy and the inauspicious reference to ‘the hand of God'”. Diego Maradona produced the infamous so-called “Hand of God” goal 40 years ago to eliminate England on the way to Argentina winning the 1986 World Cup. Argentina player Diego Maradona outjumps England goalkeeper Peter Shilton to score with his 'Hand of God' goal (Getty) The prayer called for a “harmonious and joyous World Cup”, adding: “May we see and celebrate the hand of God in the creativity of every curving free kick, silky pass or impossible save. “May we have compassion and perspective on the miskicks, missed penalties, muddled VARs; every winning team, needs a losing team – even if you were the better team.” The Bishop of Lichfield, Michael Ipgrave, responding to questions in his role as chairman of the liturgical commission, said prayers are “prepared by theologically trained staff and are subject to a process of internal review and sign-off”. He acknowledged there had been “some critical comment” on social media site X, but said the prayer “was positively received on other platforms such as Facebook which reaches a broader audience”. He said: “The communications team produces a wide range of content in support of the Church’s mission, including evangelism, discipleship and engagement with the wider public, with material tailored to different audiences and platforms. “Where prayers are specifically written for sharing on social media, they may often look and sound different to the prayers and other texts which are formally authorised or commended for use in public worship. They may take the opportunity to make use of register and idiom that may be unfamiliar to the formal liturgies of the Church. “Occasions of national significance provide opportunities to engage people beyond the Church’s regular audiences, which may involve the use of varied tone and format, including language that is more accessible, informal or light-hearted. “Not all content will resonate equally with all audiences; responses to the World Cup prayer, for example, varied across channels, with some critical comment on X, while it was positively received on other platforms such as Facebook which reaches a broader audience.”