Readers’ recent queries and comments – late May

More answers to readers’ queries and comments

Below is a further compilation of “Quick Answers” to questions which have arisen from searches of, or comments during the past couple of weeks, providing links to our blog posts addressing these issues. As before, the topics covered in these occasional posts do not necessarily represent our most-read blogs, but reflects the current interests of readers accessing the site on (mostly) contemporary issues.

General searches

Question Quick Answer L&RUK Answer
harry megan pre-nuptial A prenup for Harry and Meghan? (171129). It’s now post-nuptials, so too late for speculation. If there was one, it is unlikely that it would be in the public domain.
ecclesiastical faculties “It is wrong to describe the Church of England’s consistory courts as “rarely used and archaic”, Dean of Arches. L&RUK reviews faculty judgments every month, and published and annual index.
defibrillators on listed churches Defibrillators in churches, (180409). Some form of formal approval required under faculty jurisdiction; check with diocese.
IICSA, apologies from ROSL, CEACES § IICSA, child migration, and the CofE, (180302). Separate apologies from CofE (re: CEACES) and from ROSL.
assisted dying requête Guernsey Assisted dying – Guernsey, (180422). Assisted dying overwhelmingly rejected, but measures to improved quality of life and health to be investigated.
can anglican priests refuse to take a christening? § No, but some do, although it is an ecclesiastical offence. Canon B22 §4.
uk debate on surrogacy and religion Reforming the law on surrogacy, (180225) Law Commissions’ (E&W, S) joint project expected to start Spring 2018
successful cases removing child’s life support § Seems an insensitive way to phrase it; however, it’s not an area we feature in any depth. Charlie Gard: the wider implications, (170728). 
registering a church in the uk See: Recent queries and comments, 9 September 2017.
gcse question: should church and state be separate Perhaps yes, perhaps no. Doesn’t the question expect you to decide?

Case law related searches

Question Quick Answer L&RUK Answer
ferguson v uk echr 8254/11 Opposite-sex civil partnerships and judicial review [updated], (141206).
 tirkey caste Chandhok & Anor v Tirkey (Race Discrimination) [2014] UKEAT 0190 14 1912 Caste discrimination again: Tirkey v Chandhok & Anor, (150928).

Q&A on other areas of ecclesiastical law

Fr Z: ASK FATHER Summaries of Fr Z’s more detailed responses are given below.

  • As a lay woman, should I have a “Mass kit” in my “Bug Out Bag”? Firstly, L&RUK had to look up what a Bug Out Bag was; apparently “A bug-out bag or BOB is a portable kit that normally contains the items one would require to survive for 72 hours when evacuating from a disaster”. [Not that unlikely, as on a choir tour in Dubrovnik, David and colleagues had to make similar “take/leave” decisions as a precaution re: an advancing forest fire].

In response to the questioner, Fr Z advised: “Should you pack a Mass kit? You can’t say Mass. If you don’t have a priest in your network, or a reasonable expectation that you will find one, I think I would opt for the essentials. By all means take a Rosary or other devotional object”.

Canon Law Made Easy, Cathy Caridi

Cite this article as: David Pocklington, "Readers’ recent queries and comments – late May" in Law & Religion UK, 26 May 2018, https://lawandreligionuk.com/2018/05/26/readers-recent-queries-and-comments-late-may-2/

One thought on “Readers’ recent queries and comments – late May

  1. Pingback: Law and religion round-up – 27th May | Law & Religion UK

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *