The evangelist encouraged people to pray for Joshua Sutcliffe, who faced disciplinary action for saying “well done girls” to a group which included one pupil who was born female but now identifies as a boy.

Referring to Mr Sutcliffe’s action, Mr Graham posted on his personal Twitter account: “[He] told two teenage students ‘well done girls!’ So, what’s the problem?”

The incident on 2nd November 2017 prompted an inquiry by the school which concluded Mr Sutcliffe “contravened the school’s equality policy” and “misgendered” a student.

The maths teacher went on to quit his job at the state secondary school – which has not been named – saying he felt it was impossible for him to continue in the role.

Joshua wrote to the head teacher: “As a Christian, I do not share your belief in the ideology of transgenderism. I do not believe that young children should be encouraged to self-select a ‘gender’ which may be different from their biological sex.” Would you pray for him? 2/2

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) January 17, 2018

Mr Sutcliffe, who is also a church pastor, is currently suing the school for discrimination and constructive dismissal, arguing leaders have “systematically and maliciously” breached his rights.

He wrote to the head teacher, saying he did not believe that young children should be encouraged to self-select their gender.

Police were called to the centre of Camberley on 9th December when members of the public began heckling Dave Barker (pictured right) and Stephen Wan (left), and accusing them of hate speech.

Reacting to the news he will not be prosecuted, Mr Barker, who has been preaching in town centres for 30 years, said: “I have never been interviewed by the police before; this is a concerning development.”

The two men were accused of saying “homosexuals are going to hell” and “man cannot lie with man” – claims dismissed by their lawyers.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “We’re delighted that David and Stephen will not face charges for sharing the good news of Jesus with the public.

“Once again, the historic freedoms to preach Christianity on UK streets have been upheld.”

Legal representatives argued that 58-year-old Mr Barker and 50-year-old Mr Wan were within their rights to explain their Christian faith on Camberley High Street.

The two men quoted John 3.16 and described how everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God – but one passer-by repeatedly asked them about homosexuality.

Addressing the issue by referencing the Bible, Mr Barker and Mr Wan were sworn at and the police were called.

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The pontiff also acknowledged the “pain” of priests who have been held collectively responsible for the crimes of a few, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke told reporters on Tuesday, during Francis’ first visit to Chile.

Francis dived head-first into Chile’s sex abuse scandal on his first full day in Santiago that came amid unprecedented opposition to his visit: three more churches were torched overnight, including one burned to the ground in the southern Araucania region where Francis celebrates Mass on Wednesday.

Police used tear gas and water cannons to break up an anti-pope protest outside Francis’ big open-air Mass in the capital, Santiago.

Despite the incidents, huge numbers of Chileans turned out to see the pope, including an estimated 400,000 for his Mass, and he brought some inmates to tears with an emotional visit to a women’s prison.

But his meeting with abuse survivors and comments in his first speech of the day were what many Chileans, incensed by years of abuse scandal and cover-up, were waiting for.

Mr Burke said Francis met with a small group of abuse victims after lunch, listening to their stories and praying with them. The spokesman gave no details, other than to say the pope “listened to them, prayed with them and wept with them.”

Earlier in the day, Francis told Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, politicians, judges and other authorities that he…