Prince William may one day become King William.

Who succeeds whom to the British throne is governed by a 1701 English statute which specifies that should William convert to the Catholic Faith, or marry a Catholic, he will be ”forever incapable to inherit, possess, or enjoy the Crown”.

Is this simply bigotry, or are there reasons for such a rule?

Some argue that if the British monarch was Catholic, he or she would, like all Catholics, owe allegiance to the Pope — which would constitute a loss of national sovereignty.

How would it affect Australia, whose Constitution says, in Section 116, that “no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth”?

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Australia’s leadership is crawling with persons claiming to be Catholic. But are they?

The present Leader of the Federal Opposition, Mr Abbott, is known as a Catholic — likewise the Premiers of Victoria and New South Wales.

Please note that Mr Abbott actually identifies himself as being, not so much a devotee of the Roman Catholic religion, being more of the cafeteria-style semi-Catholic (“I’m a Catholic when it doesn’t cost me anything”) brigade.

Didn’t he tell the media when he was elected to his position that he “never let his Catholic faith interfere with his policy decisions”?  The others would say the same.

A  real Catholic puts God and religion first — ahead of his status as King, or leader of a colonial opposition party, or treasurer of the local darts club, or whatever.

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In Australia, even Catholic priests, bishops etc. are often hardly famous for giving top loyalty to the Church.

Every Sunday, don’t priests address millions of Australians in Catholic churches?

Do they speak on moral issues with a unified voice, based on the Faith, uninfluenced by popularity with the media etc.?

They do not. 

The media can pick out a “liberal” priest here, and a “conservative” priest there — and attribute to the Church any viewpoint that suits their purpose.

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What Australia most needs is millions of ordinary people living by a God-based culture that is politician-proof, media-proof and, where necessary, compromised-local-hierarchy-proof.