The U.K. government unveiled a bill Thursday to end a ban on Catholics serving as the British monarch’s representative at the Presbyterian Church of Scotland’s annual assembly.
The bill was introduced after King Charles III took the unprecedented step of nominating a practicing Catholic as the Lord High Commissioner to the Church of Scotland’s 2025 general assembly.
But the appointment of the Scottish lawyer Elish Angiolini, announced in December, would breach a law that currently bars Catholics from holding the post.
To allow the nomination to proceed, the government presented Feb. 13 the Church of Scotland (Lord High Commissioner) Bill, which states that “a person of the Roman Catholic faith may hold the office of His Majesty’s High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.”
The bill deletes a line in the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, which listed the Lord High Commissioner role among the posts that remained barred to Catholics.
Following the English Reformation, parliament passed laws restricting Catholic participation in public life. The Act of Settlement of 1701, for example, sought to guarantee Protestant succession to the throne by decreeing that a Catholic could not be or marry the English monarch.
The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 removed the prohibition on marrying a Catholic, but the bar on the monarch being a Catholic remains.
The Church of Scotland, also known as the Kirk, dates back to the Scottish Reformation of 1560. The Protestant denomination, which has around 280,000 members, is the national church of Scotland.
The British monarch is not only the head of state but also the supreme governor of the Anglican Church of England, the country’s established church and mother church of the Anglican Communion.
The monarch also has a formal relationship with the Church of Scotland, though he is not its supreme governor. In 2022, after Charles III became king following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, he took an oath promising to preserve the Church of Scotland’s autonomy, as it operates independently of the state.
When he is in Scotland, the king is expected to attend Church of Scotland services and appoint chaplains of the Royal Household in Scotland from the denomination.
Unlike the Church of England, the Church of Scotland does not have bishops. Instead, it is overseen by elders.
The Church of Scotland holds an annual general assembly, where participants vote on matters concerning the denomination. The monarch has the right to attend the assembly, but usually appoints a representative, the Lord High Commissioner, who attends on his or her behalf.
Lord High Commissioners are typically prominent figures in Scottish public life, but until now have been drawn from the ranks of non-Catholics.
The Church of Scotland’s website says: “By custom, they address the assembly at its opening and closing sessions, and attend much of the daily business, but they do not directly engage with or influence the debates.”
“The Lord High Commissioner also undertakes a round of official visits in Scotland, usually to church and social care projects, as well as hosting evening engagements at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.”
When Elish Angiolini was appointed Lord High Commissioner in December, the Church of Scotland praised the appointment of the “trailblazing lawyer” who was the first woman to serve as Lord Advocate, Scotland’s most senior law officer.
In 2023, she also became the first female Lord Clerk Register of Scotland, today a mainly ceremonial role related to the maintenance of public records. She is also the principal of St. Hugh’s College, part of Oxford University.
Responding to her appointment in December, she said: “I am a Catholic but I don’t see a conflict at all in taking up the role. It is really important that people of all religions and faiths come together.”
“The world is a scary place these days and it is important that people of all faiths meet, share, and promote peace and harmony. This is a good example of that.”
Andrew Kerr, a political correspondent for BBC Scotland, reported Feb. 13 that there were rumors at Westminster, the U.K.’s center of political power, “that no one had quite remembered that it was ‘illegal’ to appoint a Catholic — hence today we see this hastily introduced ‘panic’ legislation.”
The bill, proposed by Labour Party member of parliament Pat McFadden, is expected to be passed in time for Angiolini to take up the post of Lord High Commissioner at the May 17-22 general assembly in Edinburgh.
King Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, are scheduled to visit the Vatican in early April.
