More answers to readers’ queries and comments
Here is the early-March 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 we have noted before, we do not provide answers to questions which are too broad, too cryptic, or are beyond the scope of L&RUK. 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 |
| can you be baptised twice in church of England | Not generally, but… | … under Canon B 27 Confirmation, “5. If the minister is doubtful about the baptism of a candidate for confirmation he shall conditionally baptize him… before presenting him to the bishop to be confirmed”. |
| disestablishment of the church in wales | Welsh Church Act 1914 Parliament Act invoked. WW I delayed implementation. | Disestablishing the Church in Wales – at last? (130615). |
| CEDAW report on abortion northern Ireland | The UN, CEDAW and abortion law in Northern Ireland, (180223). | |
| what act protects priests for divulging information heard in confession | None. But priest bound by ecclesiastical law not to divulge information received during confession. | CofE to axe seal of confessional?, (141022). |
| when were church banns, first introduced | Triple calling of banns, Archbishop Hubert Walter, 1200. | Banns of marriage – their development and future, (170223). |
| is satanism recognised as a religion in the uk | Paganism, religion and human rights, (141020). | |
| polygamy in the united kingdom | There are no official statistics of polygamy in the UK. | For law, see HC Briefing Paper, Polygamy, (170621). |
| reserving a burial plot at your local church of england church | Local conditions apply. Becoming more difficult due to burial space shortage. |
Q&A on other areas of ecclesiastical law
Fr Z: ASK FATHER
- Are “butt baptisms” valid? i.e. partial immersion. Err, “No” and Fr Z includes a helpful diagram indicating the position of the head.
Links to sources of frequently sought data
- UK legislation, including CofE Measures: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/
- UK statistics, various areas: Office for National Statistics, (ONS)
For those not yet familiar with the architecture of the Church of England’s revised web site, we have posted some quick links to areas of potential interest to ecclesiastical lawyers (and clergy), here, (law & policy); here, (clergy and General Synod) and here, (legal opinions and other guidance). With regard to using the CofE search engine, single word searches tend to generate more manageable results.
Unless marked §, the questions are the search terms used, verbatim; questions arising externally to the blog, (twitter/other), are marked ‡; the dates in parentheses are in the format (yymmdd). As stated in our General Terms and Conditions, at L&RUK we do not give legal advice, or purport to do so.