Scottish Catholic Observer

Speaking last week in an address to leaders of the UK’s nine main religions, which included Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow, the Queen highlighted the way religion offers ‘critical guidance’ for the way in which people live their lives.

Last week’s speech came as Conservative Party chairwoman Baroness Warsi led a team of UK ministers to the Vatican, a visit during which she spoke of a ‘militant secularisation’ taking hold in some countries.

“Faith plays a key role in the identity of millions of people, providing not only a system of belief but also a sense of belonging,” the Queen said in her speech at Lambeth Palace last Wednesday, the first public address of the year marking her diamond jubilee. “It can act as a spur for social action. Indeed, religious groups have a proud track record of helping those in the greatest need.”

The Queen also described the Church of England, of which she is head, as ‘misunderstood’ and ‘underappreciated.’

“The concept of our established church is occasionally misunderstood and, I believe, commonly under-appreciated,” she said. “Its role is not to defend Anglicanism to the exclusion of other religions. Instead, the church has a duty to protect the free practice of all faiths in this country.

“It certainly provides an identity and spiritual dimension for its own many adherents. But also, gently and assuredly, the Church of England has created an environment for other faith communities and indeed people of no faith to live freely.”

Archbishop Conti said he felt ‘privileged to represent the Catholic Church in Scotland’ at the gathering.

“I spoke to both the Queen and the Duke, and was deeply impressed by Her Majesty’s speech in which she spoke of how religions provide critical guidance for the way we live our lives, and for the way in which we treat each other,” Archbishop Conti said. “She reminded everyone that many of the values and ideas we take for granted in this and other countries originate in the ancient wisdom of our traditions.”

After these high profile affirmations on faith, however, Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said that Christians must choose between their religion and obeying the law.

Mr Phillips argued that Catholic adoption agencies and other faith groups providing public services must make this choice when their beliefs conflict with the will of the state.

Last year, following a High Court case, the Charity Commission ruled against an exemption for Catholic Care, an adoption agency operating in Leeds, that battled to avoid being forced to accept homosexual couples under equality laws.

Speaking at a debate in London on diverse societies, Mr Phillips backed the new laws, which led to the closure of all Catholic adoption agencies in England. “You can’t say because we decide we’re different then we need a different set of laws,” he said. “To me there’s nothing different in principle with a Catholic adoption agency, or indeed Methodist adoption agency, saying the rules in our community are different and therefore the law shouldn’t apply to us. Why not then say Sharia can be applied to different parts of the country? It doesn’t work.”

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