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The agreement, earlier in the year by Commonwealth countries, to allow a monarch to marry a Catholic creates a potential conflict of interest, the British political and constitutional reform parliamentary committee said.
The possibility that a further heir to the British throne were raised a Catholic, means there is an “obvious difficulty” for that person to also be a head of the Anglican Church.
Currently, the Queen joins “in communion” with the Church of England, is the Supreme Governor of the Church and promotes the Anglican Church in Britain.
“The scenario does beg the question of whether it remains appropriate for the monarch to be required to be in communion with the Church of England,” the committee said.
Suggesting that Parliament may with to reconsider the current relationship between the monarch and the Church of England, the committee said, “The most obvious difficulty in having a Catholic monarch – beyond the purely statutory obstacles – is the Crown’s role as supreme governor of the Church of England.”
Graham Allen, chairman of the committee, said the report was “leaving the door open for the Government if they want more change”.
He added: “There could be more in this if the Government were prepared to ask us to go and delve into it a bit more.”
A spokesman for the Church of England said: “You can’t be Supreme Governor unless you are in communion with the Church of England.
“The sovereign should join in communion with the Church of England and it is integrally bound up with there continuing to be an established church, which is something that the Government has confirmed its commitment to.”
Source
- The Telegraph
- Image: National Post
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