UK lawmakers are considering a bill that would, for the first time, allow Catholics to serve as the Crown’s representative to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland’s annual assembly. The sudden break with tradition came due to King Charles’ appointment of a practicing Catholic to the post, which would be against the law without the passage of such a bill.
According to a press release from the UK government, the King approved the appointment of Lady Elish Angiolini as His Majesty’s Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, back in December 2024. Lady Elish has previously been named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), for “services to the administration of justice” in both 2011 and 2022. She was also named to the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Now that the king has decided, it’s up to Parliament to see it done and for that it must change a law that dates back to the 19th century. The bill takes aim at The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, of which there is a section titled “offices withheld from Roman Catholics.” It precludes Catholics from a variety of positions, including ”the office of guardians and justices of the United Kingdom, or of regent of the United Kingdom.”
The new bill states that it would remove the line that bars Catholics from the position of “his Majesty’s high commissioner to the general assembly of the Church of Scotland,” but it did not indicate that any of the other posts the Relief Act bars to Catholics would be repealed as well.
The Pillar notes that the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 allowed for a monarch to marry a Catholic, but continues to prevent the monarchs from being Catholics themselves.
The representative of the crown to the Church of Scotland is an important role, as the King does not hold the same power in the Church of Scotland as he does in the Church of England. Whereas the British monarch is considered the supreme governor of the Church of England, the Church of Scotland considers him an ordinary member. There is, however, a formal agreement between the Church of Scotland and the Crown that ensures autonomy and independence.
The government noted in its press release that the Lord HIgh Commissioner serves as the King’s personal representative to the Annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and attends the annual meeting on behalf of the Sovereign. Along with official visits to Scotland for church and local social care projects, Lady Elish will also be responsible for opening and closing remarks at the Assembly.
