Why are Roman Catholics prohibited from sitting on the English throne?

Question

It seems that the reason Prince Michael of Kent is banned from sitting on the throne is because he married a Roman Catholic wife. Why is that? What about members of the Royal Family of religion other than Protestant (e.g. Orthodox, Buddhist, Muslim or Jewish)? Would they similarly be prohibited?

Do you think that such a law is relevant in this day and age?

Answer 1

The ruling monarch in the UK is also the head of the church of England, therefore you can not have a Catholic (muslim, jew, pagenist etc) in that posotion.

Henry VIII, wanted a divorce which the the Pope would not grant, so he rid the country of the Catholic church (which was too powerful anyway) and made C of E the religion for the UK.

Answer 2

For Prince Michael of Kent to sit on throne he would have to be C of E, and he is in no way in line, there are Charles,  William, Harry, and other male heirs long before then, this is to do with Henry V111 seceding from the Catholic Church because he couldn't get a divorce from Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn. So he declared himself head of the Church of England.  This is our tradition and will not change unless the Monarchy is abolished and that is not likely to happen for the foreseeable future.

Answer 3

Because Henry the 8th was a randy, ignorant old syphliitic cesspot who wanted a son so badly he kept having s*x with anything that walked, and the Pope forbade him to marry again because his wife was still alive.  So, he declared himself head of the "Church of England" and married anyone he wanted; if they gave birth to a daughter, he had them beheaded.  

Sadly, the English people put up with this hypocricy and even today Catholics are persecuted in Scotland and parts of England and Wales.  Religious freedom has always been something the English and Scots have despised.   Hence, the separation clause in the United States Constitution.

Answer 4

Because of religion, which has caused more deaths and disturbances than all the wars put together.

Mary Queen of Scots was Catholic and would burn Protestants at the stake simply because of their religion.

Religion, although unproven, at one time ruled this world.

And kings and queens actually thought they were related to the gods. All same Roman Emporers etc.

Answer 5

First of all, the ban on Roman Catholics has nothing to do with Henry VIII and his six wives, even though he started the Church of England because the Pope wouldn't allow him to divorce Katherine of Aragon.  

Try fast forwarding to the Act of Settlement in 1701, an act specifically meant to keep any Roman Catholic Stuarts away from the throne of England.  When the last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne, had 13 pregnancies in 13 years, and not one child lived to ascend to the throne, Parliament had two choices: 1) To bring back James II (or a son by his second marriage); both of whom were Roman Catholics. 2) To turn to the nearest Protestant branch of the Stuarts--a very remote one, James I's granddaughter, Sophia, the widowed Electress of Hanover, and her son, the Elector George.

The Roman Catholic Stuarts' religious faith committed them to undoing the Glorious Revolution, re-establishing a despotic personal rule of the king rather than the rule of Parliament (even if it they only represented a small percentage of landowners), and not even the staunchest Tory could allow this to happen.

The English Constitution, which relies on tradition (and is obviously stretched to fit whatever situation necessary) at present prohibits those in line for succession from marrying a Roman Catholic, a Buddhist, Muslim, or a Jew--or for that matter a member of any "dissenting" Protestant denomination, such as the Society of Friends (Quakers), the Methodists, or Baptists.  Naturally, any one of the above faiths could convert to the Church of England.  After all, Prince Phillip was baptized as an infant into the Greek Orthodox faith.  Before marrying Princess Elizabeth, he not only gave up his Greek citizenship but his allegiance to the Greek Orthodox church as well.  

Of course, the law is not relevant to contemporary England since only about 10 percent of the population regularly attend church anyway--most of whom are Roman Catholics and dissenters.  I don't suppose that unwritten constitution could adopt the very American idea of Separation of Church and State?

Answer 6

The Monarch of England must be a Protestant by law.  The Monarch is head of the Church of England.

Our Heritage from our English Puritan Ancestors. ... He is persuaded to attempt to make a Protestant monarch follow him, contrary to his father's will that ...

http://www.members.aol.com/ntgen/hrtg/en...

JSTOR: Studies in the Making of the English Protestant Tradition ...Studies in the Making of the English Protestant Tradition (Mainly in the ... that con- spiracy by which a lustful monarch and preda- tory gentry combined to ...

http://www.links.jstor.org/sici?sici=002...

HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, has let it be known that he wishes to be titled "Defender of the Faiths" [plural] when he becomes King.  He is skating on very thin ice because the English may not accept him as their king unless and until he renounces all other faiths.

The above paragraph may seem harsh in the modern world but we must remember all the termoil and war which happened here in England, especially the English Civil War of the 16th century and it's outcome and the settlement between Parliament [the Commons] and the newly restored monarch HM King Charles II of fond late memory, who while a Protestant [CofE] himself, was married to a catholic Queen with whom he had no children.

GlobaLex - A Guide to the UK Legal System The major encyclopaedia is Halsbury's Laws of England. ..... Northern Ireland was created in 1922 from the six protestant-dominated counties of the Irish ...

http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Uni...

Answer 7

This is part of the history of England.

We should respect our history and culture.

Answer 8

henry the 8th because he couldnt get divorced as a devout catholic got 2 of his former wives beheaded. then the holy roman emperor who was his brother in law says "oi fatso yer not divorcing my sister and making my neices b******s" so he made the pope excommunicate henry the 8th. henry then dissolved the catholic church in britain and ireland which became known as the reformation i:e he burnt down all the abbeys and had his troops slaughter all priests and monks. he then formed his own church with himself as supreme leader, the church of england.  thats why there will never be a catholic on the british throne. an anglican cannot sit on the throne either.

Answer 9

Cos when the Catholic church wouldn't allow Henry VIII to divorce, He started the Church of England with his own new, self serving laws and himself as the supreme religious ruler. And attempted to destroy Catholicism in Britain.

Answer 10

Relevent cause catholic not allowed married more than one.

Answer 11

Why don't you take the royal family to court, and see how far you get.

When the pope and his followers seceded from the C. of E., Catholics in the UK lost all of their rights.

Answer 12

As the british monarch is head of the church of england having a person of annother religion on the throne would be equivalent to having a non catholic pope

Answer 13

This stems from the reign of Henry VIII, when he passed an Act severing the Church of England from the Roman Catholic church and established the English monarch as the head of the Church of England.

Succession to the English throne is by male preference primogeniture (boys take preference over girls and oldest boy takes preference over younger brothers), but those who are not legitimate descendants of Sophia, Electress of Hanover and those who have ever been Roman Catholics, or who have married Roman Catholics, are disbarred from succeeding to the Crown.

Relevant or not, it is a part of British history and culture and should be respected as such.

Answer 14

Because the Monarch is the Head of the Church of England.

Answer 15

yes it is relevant to those who want it to be

There are MANY LAWS that need To be rewritten

But alas the few at the top need them more, than the masses

that have no control over changing these laws.

We are but pawns in the chess game of life.

The average person gets the average answer NO NO NO

Answer 16

yes the queen is also the head of the church of england and so has every monarch going back as far as henry the V111 and is sworn to up hold and defend the faith of our country. a monarch of another faith could not do this.

Answer 17

it all dates back to the times of the great philandrer henry the 8th, you should check up on it. we dont really have much cultutr and heritige in this country anymore as we are more occupied with other stuff like killing children and taking drugs or buying the latest gadgets so my personal opinion is that what little culture and historical rights/traits etc we should value, respect and accept even if we dont agree with them.

Answer 18

It's revenge for the spanish inquisition.

Answer 19

The Act of Settlement 1701 prohibits Catholics from inheriting the throne. It would be a problem if any non-Protestant (or other Christian other than Church of England) was to inherit the throne as the monarch is technically Head of the Church of England.

Although Muslims or Jews are not prohibited by the Act, I doubt they would be allowed to take the throne. The Monarch only reigns at the assent of Parliament (and in turn by the People).

Peter Philips (the Queen's eldest grandchild - the son of Princess Anne) is engaged to a Roman Catholic, if she does not convert and they marry he will forfeit his place in the line of sucession (he is currently 10th in line).

Answer 20

The Queen who is Protestant is head of the Church of England,this stems from the time of Henry the eighth who left Rome and set himself up as head of the Church in England, instead of the Pope.

Obviously will cease when there is no monarchy in England.

Answer 21

The rules prohibiting Roman Catholics or their spouses from being monarchs of Britain were made by the British Parliament. The rules are NOT made by public opinion, nor by a Best Answer on Yahoo! Answers.

Parliament does not have to defend the rules which it has made. There has been a debate on them, and a vote, and the result stands until whenever there is another debate and a different vote.

If any non-Protestant was near to inheriting the throne, it is very likely that Parliament would remove them from the succession by re-wording the rules, for consistency with the monarch's role as the Head of the Church of England.

As another answerer has said, and I completely agree, claiming that a Catholic should be allowed to be the British monarch is as silly as claiming that a non-Catholic should be allowed to be the Pope.

Answer 22

The reason is based in history. The fact is just another reason why the idea of a monarchy is totally ridiculous.