Does it matter whether Catherine is Protestant?

The Royal wedding has raised, once again, the debate about Australia’s relationship to the British Monarchy.

In the media this week, particular attention has been drawn to the 18th century British Act of Settlement that requires the monarch to be a Protestant. One republican lawyer claimed “the rules of succession continue to reflect centuries-old prejudice and hatred towards Catholics.” Another called the Act of Settlement “a blood-curdling anti-Catholic rant that enshrines Protestant religious beliefs in the succession to the throne.”

Without entering into the republican/monarchy debate, this concern is irrelevant for Australia. There are aspects of the British Monarchy that may affect our nation but the religious commitment of the monarch is not one of them.

Australia, unlike England, has no state church. The Queen’s representative in Australia does not have to belong to any particular church. The first Australian Governor General Sir Isaac Isaacs was, as his name indicates, Jewish. Being a Roman Catholic is no bar to being a Governor General. I recall no controversy, or even much mention, over the appointment of the Roman Catholic Sir William Deane.

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The English monarch is also the supreme governor of the Church of England. The Coronation Oath Act that requires the English monarch to swear an oath to uphold the true gospel and the Protestant Reformed Religion, established by law, recognizes that an atheist, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Roman Catholic, or Wiccan monarch on the English throne would present a conflict of interest.