Young Ulster Unionist from west Belfast adresses UUP conference

[Lecale2]

I don't think a Catholic can become Archbishop of Canterbury but I could be wrong.

Why would a catholic want to be a protestant bishop?

It's discrimination if you're not allowed to apply because of religion! Each candidate should be considered on their merits and suitability for the job.

[passedit]

Can a catholic be a privy councillor?
Has a prime minister ever not been a privy councillor?
Why did Tony Blair feel it necessary to wait until he was no longer prime minister to become a catholic?
How many prime ministers have been catholics?

[ziggysego]

Can a catholic be a privy councillor?
Has a prime minister ever not been a privy councillor?
Why did Tony Blair feel it necessary to wait until he was no longer prime minister to become a catholic?
How many prime ministers have been catholics?

I don't think it was a matter that he couldn't, but more that it would be frown upon.... for want of a better word.

[nifan]

I heard george galloway on the radio recently, and someone phoned him and said that the prime minister couldnt be a catholic.
He told them they where talking rubbish and perpetuating a myth, and that if it where true he would be very vocally fighting for its removal.

[Evil Genius]

I don't think a Catholic can become Archbishop of Canterbury but I could be wrong.

Why would a catholic want to be a protestant bishop?

It's discrimination if you're not allowed to apply because of religion! Each candidate should be considered on their merits and suitability for the job.

I hope you're joking when you say that.

[Evil Genius]

Can a catholic be a privy councillor?

Of course. Cabinet Members, several of whom are RC, are automatically made Privy Councillors, for instance:
http://www.privy-council.org.uk/OutPut/Page25.asp
In fact, if you look at the List, it reveals that PC'ers represent all the major religions in the UK:
http://www.privy-council.org.uk/output/Page76.asp
One interesting PC'er is Ruth Kelly, former Cabinet Minister:
Kelly was born in Limavady, Northern Ireland. She also lived briefly in the Republic of Ireland before moving to England where she attended Edgarley Hall - the prep school for Millfield School. She was privately educated at Sutton High School. After jumping up a year and sitting O-levels at Sutton High School at the age of 15, she decided to move back to Ireland to look after her ill grandmother. Her grandmother died after six weeks, but Kelly stayed for a year, living with her aunt and taking A-level French. She returned to England where she won a scholarship to the sixth-form of Westminster School to take her A-levels. She went on to The Queen's College, Oxford where she read Philosophy, Politics and Economics, graduating in 1989, and then to the London School of Economics gaining an MSc in Economics in 1992. She joined the Labour Party in 1990, becoming a member of the party's Bethnal Green & Stepney/Bow constituency branch. She was an economics writer for The Guardian from 1990, before becoming deputy head of the Inflation Report Division of the Bank of England in 1994. She married Derek John Gadd, a local government officer, in 1996, and they have four children.
Family history
Kelly's grandfather Philip Murphy was an Irish Republican Army (Old IRA) officer interned in 1922 by the Government of Northern Ireland. Murphy's detention file refers to him as 'quartermaster of the West Fermanagh IRA Battalion'. He went on hunger strike to protest at his detention. He was released unconditionally in June 1924 when internment ended.
Religion
Kelly is a practising Roman Catholic, a member of Opus Dei and regular attender at their meetings and events. Her brother, Ronan Kelly, is a supernumerary in the Opus Dei organisation. Previously, uncertainty has existed over Kelly's Opus Dei membership, partly because she herself has declined when asked to say whether or not she is a member, saying that the matter is a private one, and saying only that she has received 'spiritual support' from them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Kelly

Has a prime minister ever not been a privy councillor?

Of course not. That's like asking e.g. has the Manchester United No.9 ever not been a footballer. The PM must by definition be a PC'er.

Why did Tony Blair feel it necessary to wait until he was no longer prime minister to become a catholic?

I guess you'd better ask him that. (And while you're at it, you might also ask him why he hasn't come out as a Tory, now that he is no longer PM...)

How many prime ministers have been catholics?

None, afaik. but whilst there was doubtless anti-RC prejudice in the past which might have prevented this, there is no significance to that fact in the present day. For example, recent Conservative Party leader*, Ian Duncan-Smith, is RC and so was eligible to be PM had his party ever won an Election under him. Moreover, whilst there may be more church-going RC's in GB than any other single denomination, they still only represent fewer than 10% of the population of GB. Therefore the fact there has been no PM who was also RC, is no more significant than e.g. the lack of Black, Jewish or Muslim PM's, or that there has only ever been one female PM, despite women being a majority of the population.

* - The Tory Party is quite interesting, since not only did they have the first female PM (Thatcher) and an RC leader (Duncan-Smith), but they also had a Jewish leader (Michael Howard), and a PM (Churchill) whose mother was an American Jewess. Moreover, as far back as the 19th Century, there was an Anglican Tory PM whose entire family background was actually entirely Jewish - Benjamin Disraeli.

[Tonto]

Really only one "High Office" [sic] that I can think of, that of the Monarch.

I don't think a Catholic can become Archbishop of Canterbury but I could be wrong.

I hope you are taking the piss....

[Lecale2]

Discrimination of any kind has to be challenged. The Archbishop of Canterbury holds a very important position in England and can never be a Catholic.

[nifan]

You are taking the piss, good man lecale

[passedit]

I heard george galloway on the radio recently, and someone phoned him and said that the prime minister couldnt be a catholic.
He told them they where talking rubbish and perpetuating a myth, and that if it where true he would be very vocally fighting for its removal.

I didn't say there was a specific law against it, I asked a number of questions which i'd be interested in the answers to.

On the subject of the Archbishop, how many catholic bishops are automatically elected to the upper chamber of the legislature?

[Tonto]

There are none.

AFAIK, Catholic Bishops/Archbishops/Priests are only allowed to serve in the governing of one country; the Vatican.

[Dougal Maguire]

On the subject of the Vatican, this discrimination business is not just one way. A mate of mine, from the Protestant community, told me he'd like to become Pope one day. The idea of the extravagant lifestyle and extensive holidays together with the hope that he could become the father of millions were factors in his decision. He wrote a letter which I handed in, on his behalf, to my Parish Priest. However he accused me of wasting his time and threw the letter in the fire. Needless to say no white smoke emerged.

[Lecale2]

http://www.parliament.uk/directories/house_of_lords_information_office/alphabetical_list_of_members.cfm

There's a right few Bishops in the House of Lords. Are they all Church of England?

[Tonto]

http://www.parliament.uk/directories/house_of_lords_information_office/alphabetical_list_of_members.cfm

There's a right few Bishops in the House of Lords. Are they all Church of England?

Yes, there are 26 seats in the Lords for Archbishops of the C of E because it remains the established church; unlike the Church of Ireland (Protestant/Anglican) and the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian).

Because of the evolutionary nature of the British political system over the last c.300 years, this is being looked at in order to reform the system and separate church and state.

Still not done, but I think it's only a matter of time I think.

[Billys Boots]

I don't think a Catholic can become Archbishop of Canterbury but I could be wrong.

Why would a catholic want to be a protestant bishop?

Here's a clue: it's the exact opposite to 'why does a dog lick his bollocks?'.