Refuse to give a job to a Roman Catholic and you’d soon find yourself facing a claim for religious discrimination.Unless, of course, you’re trying to fill a vacancy on the British throne.
Now the country’s most senior Roman Catholic has called for the repeal of 300-year-old laws barring members of his church from becoming monarch.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, says the ban, which even forbids anyone in line to the throne from marrying a Catholic, is outdated and amounts to discrimination.
He plans to raise the issue with Gordon Brown in the autumn and is confident “common sense will prevail”.
Catholics were disappointed when the prime minister failed to include the issue in a series of proposed constitutional changes announced last month.
“Most people can’t understand why a member of the royal family can marry a Sikh, Hindu or Jew but not a Roman Catholic,” said Murphy-O’Connor. “Most people would agree that it isn’t right.”
Of course, there’s just one small problem to overcome.
Does this mean that one day a Catholic could become head of the Church of England?
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