What is Your opinion of the law that No Catholic can sit on the English Throne?

Question

It's 2008 not the 1500's and any Royal should be able to marry who they wish no matter what faith or Non faith they maybe, yet if they Marry a Catholic they cannot be King or Queen. Kate Middleton gave up her Catholic faith because of this so she can marry Prince Willem, if he ever asks her :)

what's your views and thank you for your replies.

Answer 1

The Queen is the head of the state and the head of the church.



So officially church and state are firmly linked.



You can only become a member of the royal family if your a protestant.............member of Lords has to be protestant & chancellor........... 87 yrs ago they ostracized all the catholics in England & for 900 yrs persecuted Catholics in Ireland.



These silly titles only means something if you live in some commonwealth countries, there's only one superior intellect or person & thats Jesus. As a republican ( in the British term of the word and not the American) I would rather see the end to the monarchy when the present Queen Elizabeth the second passes away.

The Monarchy symbolizes the class system, which has a cruel history and is still evidently present in some quarters of British society.

I cannot except how a family by accident of birth can be placed above the average British citizen, especially as they are a bunch of interloping Germans and Greeks without a drop of Celtic blood in their veins unlike most of their true British subjects.

It is about time Britain shrugs off its medieval past and enters finally a future of equality and modernism.



Personally ,Royalty is the outdated remnant of feudal privilege and only serves to perpetuate the obnoxious class system and snobbery.

I'd rather England become a republic and the descendants of what is unarguably an imported German dynasty asked nicely to vacate the throne and switch off the lights before returning home.

By the way unless William is gay he wont have a Beau he'll hopefully have a Belle.

Answer 2

What a shame this had to happen, King Henry VIII was catholic and changed the law so he could divorce. And now you cannot be catholic to marry royalty. Wasn't England a catholic country before this, in fact all the big Cathedrals were all catholic, like West Minster Abby, Saint Paul's and the rest of the churches. I suppose if they went back to Catholicism the queen would have no authority at all, because isn't she the head of the church of England. This Kate Middleton isn't strong in her faith, to give it up to marry royalty. What a sad thing. If she is not engaged yet, she isn't thinking straight and it should make no difference to Prince William whether she is a catholic or not. Any way just a few opinions of my own. How silly! God bless you.

Answer 3

I think that is up to the British People, through their representatives in Parliament. The Monarchy is by definition a public office that one is born into, and from which one can abdicate if desired. If a member of the Royal Family wants to marry a Catholic, all they have to do is abdicate their claim to any royal title and the restriction is removed. They remain who they always were, but give up any claim to the throne.



The 'cure' to this situation, for those who see it as a problem, is simple. If the people of the UK want to allow anyone to become their monarch, it is up to them to press for the legal changes to make that possible. If they are comfortable with the laws as they are (or, as I suspect, simply don't give a cr*p), then no change will happen.



In any event, the monarchy is such an irrelevant vestige of a bygone era - with no real power, exorbitant expenses and nightmarish security issues - that who sits on the throne matters only to a handful of people anyway. I certainly expect the the sons of Charles and Diana will take steps to end it once they have any authority.

Answer 4

Sweetie



I have no interest in who sits on a throne as the Monarchy holds no real power over UK HOWEVER I do strongly object to the fact that a person who is in the RC Faith CANNOT become Prime Minister.



Any other kind of Christian can, a Jew can a Muslim can, an Atheist can but NOT an RC. This is why Tony Blair waited until he left office before converting.



NO I am not RC but I do feel this injustice needs rectified. I am not Christian at all.

Answer 5

Principally speaking I don't condone monarchy. I think it's not in the best interests of a country to be ruled by a family, it doesn't promote citizenship and it's not healthy for the royal family itself either. Being a royal in modern times is gruesome and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.



Nevertheless, in constitutional monarchies it is of vital importance that the government/parliament decides whether a prospective marriage partner is acceptable or not. I'm dutch myself, and I thought that the dutch parliament should have denied Willem Alexander the right to marry Maxima Zorreguieta, because of her father's role in the Argentinian dictatorship. Family's have a tremendous influence on who people become, and if you cannot bar individuals in the royal family from taking the throne then you should definitely control who they marry. They have a public function, which happens to be hereditary and therefore their decisions on procreation are public matters.



Note that any royal always has a choice to marry anyway and lose their place in the line of succession. A century a go the British king did just that, to marry a divorcee.



Also note that Blair converted to catholicism only after he stepped down as PM, and he admitted that this was because a catholic PM would be quite a political puzzle in the UK. I think that what goes for the prime minister definitely goes for the royal family.

Answer 6

Well, if you accept the Guardian's accuracy, polls have indicated that a clear majority of the British people want to end the restrictions of the Succession Act of 1701 - including the prohibitions against Catholics relating to the throne.



"" The British public overwhelmingly supports an end to the legal ban on Roman Catholics, adopted children and those born to unmarried parents succeeding to the throne, according to an exclusive Guardian/ICM poll on the monarchy published today.



More than 63% of the public agree it is time to end the discrimination inherent in the Act of Settlement 1701, which guarantees the existence of a hereditary monarchy in Britain.



The poll also shows that 60% of British adult voters prefer to see themselves as citizens and only 32% describe themselves as "royal subjects" despite the fact all adults in Britain share that constitutional status. ""

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2000/dec/06/monarchy.alantravis



That was a couple of years ago, but I doubt that the sentiment has gotten any weaker.



The Daily Mail seems to agree:

"" The 1701 Act of Settlement bars monarchs and their heirs from becoming or marrying Catholics, a source of anger for Church leaders who have repeatedly called for its repeal.



Under the Act, Mr Phillips will be required to renounce his right to the throne - he is 10th in line at present - or Miss Kelly will have to formally give up her membership of the Church.



Catholic MP John Gummer, tabled a Ten Minute Rule Bill in Parliament earlier this year in a bid to overturn the remaining anti-Catholic legislation.



Mr Gummer said: "It is unacceptable that the part of the Christian church that has more active adherents than any other should be discriminated against in this way."



According to the Act, which discriminates uniquely against Catholics, there is nothing barring a monarch from marrying a Hindu, Muslim or someone from any other faith. ""

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-472911/Princess-Annes-future-daughter-law-shows-dazzling-engagement-ring.html

Answer 7

Shows the condescending and snobbish attitude the English. It's funny that so many do not realize that the Royal family are the biggest welfare case ever. They do not work (most of them) because they have no need since they live off the money of the people. This goes back to the rivalry between Catholics and Protestants. Also, Henry VIII creating the Anglican Church just so he can marry his lover doesn't speak well of England. They think they're better than Rome when they have so many skeletons in their closet. It shouldn't matter at all.

Answer 8

Well after Mary, Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, the Armada, the gunpowder plot, James the second, The battle of the Boyne, the Jacobite rebellions... it's not that surprising we've ended up with one (of two) left-over pieces of Catholic-restricting legislation

(It had almost all disappeared by 1828).



And it would be odd to have a Catholic as official head of the protestant Church of England.

I think that's the only constitutional hurdle left,

(The adjustment to the succession to ignore sex may come first: it's still by males first, not oldest child irrespective.)



I'm not sure that Charlie-boy, who wants to be "defender of faith"

not "Defender of the faith" if he ever comes to the throne would in fact support and defend a faithful belief in sacrificing the first-born to Moloch.



In any case "Defender of the faith" was a title given to the then Catholic Henry VIII by the then pope, for a piece of anti-protestant writing.

And they say history is boring...

Answer 9

This goes all the way back to Tudor England. Elizabeth wanted to take no chances after her sister Mary nearly restored the Church in England. They are supposed to be a liberal and progressive people, the Brits. Seems they would abolish such a law.

Answer 10

Come on Sweetie! make the move to Ireland, Catholics rule here!!

Your the real queen of Britain,

I've a nice bit of red carpet! I'll role it out for ya.

Answer 11

I'm a Catholic and quite honestly I don't think that a Catholic would want to sit on the throne, no more than we would want a Protestant taking the Popes seat.. Those who change their religion, well they have to answer to that themselves. I personally would not change my beliefs for anyone even if it meant my death. I sure as hell would not change it for love or the Monarchy, and shame on those who have..

Answer 12

Personally I think their should be no monarchy. So I do like the old order coming down. It is well past it's sell by date - it just stinks.



I guess you know your history so you know why the law was established in the 1st place.



It was just to keep a family in power.

Answer 13

I think that law came thru in the dark middle ages ' and should be demolished asap.As long as the person is sound in the mind' and knows compassion and what he or she needs to be a great king or queen.Lots of places have screwed up laws like no chewing gum or jailed in indonesia' no high heels in some southern state.They need to make laws for the new era' as we are in 2008' soon to be 09..

Answer 14

Total bullshit. This chesseball Henry VIII and hus stpid act of parliment allow this act of declaring himself the head of the church and thenn delaring that catholics are not allowed to sit in the Throne Why because Henry VIII could notobtain a divorce because his wife could not give him a child(or put it this way hsi children were killed because henry ViIi could not even provide the ebst medicalcare for them) and then all when mayhem He split from the Mother Universla church and the angican church started to deny the real prcense of Christ, The Pope authority and celibacy of Priest and chnages to the mass ordination rites and now appointment of woma priest and bishops

The archbishops wanst to make himself Pope by delcaring hismelf as head of the broken and heretic English Anglican

LOl think of it is it tight to divorce anothe person just because someones cannot give you a heir

is it worth it to deny yourslef salvation by joining this Anglican cult with false doctrines and policies

Is it worth it for Catholics to be dnied to the throne because of a illegial act of parliment

Just like the Converted John Cardinal Henry Newman says that the Anglicans are no different from friom seriarianism

so i say the Anglicans are no differnt from the Mormons total heretics

Answer 15

It's because if we had a catholic monarch he or she could technically be overruled by the Pope and they lose absolute power.However the monarchy have become so irrelevant in modern society that they are little more than a sideshow and it wouldn't make any difference whatsoever if we did have a catholic or an atheist as a monarch.

Answer 16

Well Prince Charles married a dog (Camilla) so i don't see why Roman Catholics aren't allowed to take the throne.

Answer 17

Sadly, the Roman Catholic leaders do not have a good record of Biblical belief, preferring to add their own rituals, obligations and theories.



I am more comfortable with someone who does believe that the Pope is head of the church, the role which rightly belongs to Jesus Christ.

Answer 18

What is the big deal between Catholicism and Protestantism anyway? They both follow the same Bible and worship the same God.



What Kate did by "giving up her Catholic faith" was that she no longer participated in Catholic traditions and rituals.



Her core beliefs (God, heaven, hell, Jesus, etc.) never changed.

Answer 19

I think it's a bunch of malarkey..... Religion shouldn't matter that much in politics, doing the right thing for all is what should matter in politics.....

Answer 20

My opinion is that the only thing more ludicrous than squabbling over the details of worship is the notion of royalty.

Answer 21

It's because the catholic church never used to allow divorces, so henry VIII changed it so that he could.



However times have changed and so should the royals.

Answer 22

Youare looking for a way for monarchy to be modernized? The whole CONCEPT of monarchy is archaic.

Answer 23

If a Catholic sits on the British Throne, the POPE (ROME/S.P.Q.R) will be his/her BOSS...



A true Catholic could not be independent of the POPE!

Answer 24

Well the King/Queen is the head of the Church of England so they kind of have to stay with that faith or things will get awkward...

Answer 25

When two archaic, irrelevant concepts collide, only one can be victorious.

Answer 26

It doesn't bother me there are more important things to worry about in this world.

Answer 27

Why? Does it make a difference who sits on the throne?

Answer 28

You want AntiChrist on the throne?



You obviously don't know the history and record of the Roman Catholic Church.



Yet just look at the millions in bondage to it, and the Pope, today and it's blasphemous claims to represent Christ. That alone should be enough to persuade you!

Answer 29

So,



They are welcoming of Shira (Muslim) Law, but hate Catholics?

Answer 30

That particularly outdated law is about to be revoked, so it no longer matters.

Answer 31

to all the catholics we are gonna sue england woooo

Answer 32

It sucks. Religious descrimination is alive and well, here in the UK.

Answer 33

it's so outdated

btw, why they are so afraid if Catholic sit on the throne?

Answer 34

There are other thrones they can sit on...