Monday, May 20, 2013

When Catholics and English royalty tie the knot: The mixed marriage stumbling block

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/drillinginthedark/drillinginthedark0905/drillinginthedark090500028/4835674-cross-heraldic-crown.jpgSome time ago some Catholic media reported on a rather strange kind of exemption: that is, that Catholics who marry a member of the British royal family should not be obliged to raise their children in the Catholic faith. 

The news spread after a statement made by Lord Wallace of Tankerness, who, in a speech before the House of Lords, stated he had been assured that an “ecumenical” approach was taken to mixed royal marriages. 

Lord Wallace said: “Where it has not been possible for the child of a mixed marriage to be brought up as a Catholic, the Catholic parent does not fall subject to the censure of canon law.”
 
But a spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales stated: “I wish to state clearly that neither I, nor the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, have ever, at any time, said to the British government that Catholics who marry into the royal family would not be expected to raise their children in the Catholic faith,” said Mgr. Marcu Stock general secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, whom Lord Wallace quoted. 

Two years ago (in 2011), a decision taken by the 16 Commonwealth countries put an end to an old law which discriminated against Catholics. The law stated that heirs to the British throne could marry individuals of any religious faith except Catholics.
 
At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the Australian city of Perth, in 2011 (the Queen of England being the sovereign of these 16 countries), Cameron asked for changes to be made to the laws of succession contained in legislation that was passed in the 17th and 18th centuries. 

The new law allows an heir to the throne to marry a member of the Catholic faith and stipulates that male heirs no longer take precedence over women in line to the throne. 

This means the first-born child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will become monarch, regardless of whether they are a boy or a girl.
 
This is issue does not pose an immediate problem since Queen Elizabeth II’s successors are all Anglicans. 

Nevertheless, it has touched a nerve with many Brits because although Catholics are a minority in terms of numbers (they account for just over 10% of the population), their participation in religious life is stronger compared to Protestants and Anglicans.