Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivers the commencement address to the graduating class of Liberty University, the world's largest Christian university, telling them that marriage is between "one man and one woman".

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10:00AM BST 13 May 2012

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivered the commencement speech at Liberty University, which gave him a rare chance to make a direct appeal to evangelical Christians who are sceptical of his Mormon faith and conservative credentials.

The Lynchburg, Virginia, school, founded by the late television evangelist Jerry Falwell, is a bastion for conservative Christian thought. Its theology students are taught that Mormonism - Mr Romney's religion - is a cult.

But Mr Romney seized the opportunity to try to show evangelicals that he and they have much in common, and carefully avoided talking about his own faith. Instead, Mr Romney appealed to the "free exercise of religious faith" as a cherished American value.

"Perhaps religious conscience upsets the designs of those who feel that the highest wisdom and authority comes from government," said Mr Romney. "But from the beginning, this nation has trusted in God, not man."

The speech also emphasized the importance of family.

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"The American culture promotes personal responsibility, the dignity of work, the value of education, the merit of service, devotion to a purpose greater than self, and, at the foundation, the pre-eminence of the family," said Mr Romney, as the crowd stood up and applauded.

Mr Romney reiterated his opposition to same-sex marriage, a talking point that resonated with the conservative audience at Liberty just three days after President Barack Obama , declared his support for same-sex marriage.