Sir, – Paul Linehan (June 11th) protests that the law which forbids a Catholic from sitting on the British throne is “nothing short of a disgrace” and “an insult to all British Catholics”.
Mr Linehan ought to be aware that the very simple reason for this is that the British monarch is also the supreme governor of the Church of England and the titular head of the Anglican Communion worldwide. It would be somewhat odd if a Catholic were to hold this post and I sincerely doubt that many Catholics would aspire to do so!
It can hardly be considered “sectarian” for a religion to exclude members of other competing religions from its highest office. How would Mr Linehan view the appointment of a Protestant as Pope? Ultimately, it is for the British people to determine how they are governed and to alter this arrangement if they so wish, as is their democratic right. They no longer see fit to lecture us about how we govern ourselves, so I see no reason why we should lecture them. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Paul Linehan (June 11th) is concerned that “The head of state of the neighbouring island is forbidden by law from being a Catholic”, and feels proud that there is no legal bar on persons of any religious persuasion from taking up any post here. Perhaps significantly, he did not use the phrase “any religious persuasion or none”. In any event, a close scrutiny of Bunreacht na hÉireann should convince him that there is little reason to feel proud on this point.
Article 12 of the 1937 Constitution requires any incoming president to utter a public declaration which makes reference to “Almighty God”. I don’t know what the Catholic atheists identified in the recent Irish Times survey would make of this requirement. However, there are many humanists such as myself who would regard this prerequisite as an effective block to taking up the office of president. Similar conditions are laid down (Article 34) relating to the appointment of judges of the High and Supreme Courts.
It is nothing short of a disgrace that such provisions are included in the constitution of a state which is supposedly a democracy. – Yours, etc,