Some 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.