Constitutionally enshrined hatred is wrong in principle.
Posted By: November 28, 2023
King Charles in the Imperial State Crown and Queen Camilla in her coronation dress following the coronation.
IRISH CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING
Distributed to Congress by Irish National Caucus
“The silence on the sectarian, anti-Catholic British constitution —and on King Charles’ bigoted Coronation Oath— is truly appalling. Especially since is seen to justify all the historic anti-Catholicism in Northern Ireland.”
—Fr. Sean McManus.
Constitutionally enshrined hatred is wrong in principle
King Charles in the Imperial State Crown and Queen Camilla in her coronation dress following the coronation.
By Fr, Sean Mc Manus. President, Irish National Caucus, Washington, D.C.
Letters to the Editor. Irish News. Belfast. Tuesday, November 28, 2023
If there were clauses in the unwritten, uncodified British constitution prohibiting black people or Jews from being king or queen of England, every political party in Ireland, north and south, would rush to condemn it (as they should, and I would be the first).
Yet, on May 6, 2023, King Charles in his coronation proudly swore before God and the entire world that he would uphold and defend “Protestant succession to the throne” – in other words, no Catholics need apply.
And yet, despite this in-your-face crude and appalling bigotry and anti-Catholicism, not one political leader in Ireland, north or south, publicly demurred. Not one said that such constitutionally-enshrined hatred is wrong in principle – especially its fruit in Ireland. Oppression is complete when people internalize/accept the contempt of the oppressor.
And, to make sure his meaning would not be missed, the king’s own website before his coronation spelled it out: “The Act [of Settlement 1701] laid down that only Protestant descendants… are eligible to succeed. Subsequent Acts have confirmed this. Parliament, under the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement, also laid down various conditions which the sovereign must meet. A Roman Catholic is specifically excluded from succession to the throne. The sovereign must, in addition, be in communion with the Church of England and must swear to preserve the established Church of England and the established Church of Scotland. The sovereign must also promise to uphold the Protestant succession.” (www.royal.uk/encyclopedia/succession)
The Bill of Rights 1689 states that should monarchs convert to Roman Catholicism, they immediately and automatically cease to be monarchs (“be forever incapable to inherit, possess, or enjoy the Crown”) and that the subjects are absolved from their allegiance.
Imagine the brazen hypocrisy of such a title “Bill of Rights” that by name excludes and demonizes Catholics – the largest Christian Church in the history of the world – and that King Charles proudly swore to defend it in 2023. If it were not so deadly serious for its implications in Northern Ireland (justifying anti-Catholic discrimination), it would be almost laughable.
And so, it will continue for as long as there is an established Church (meaning no separation between Church and State) in England, with the monarch its automatic governor. And yet, despite all this, England succeeded in presenting Ireland as Church-dominated, when in fact, and in its highest laws and constitution, England itself is a sort of theocracy.
END.
