ROMAN Catholics should not be prevented from being head of the Church of England, according to the Bishop of Worcester.

Dr Peter Selby has thrown his weight behind calls for the repeal of 17th Century legislation which prevents the heir to the throne marrying a Catholic.

But, giving his support to the Succession of the Crown Bill in the House of Lords, Dr Selby went further.

He said there was no reason why the Sovereign, who is also Sup-reme Governor of the Church of England, could not be a Catholic.

The Bishop said that, throughout British history, social stability had been jeopardised by intransigence in the face of "perfectly proper demands for change".

Succession

This, he added, had been the case at the time of the 1689 Bill of Rights, which prevented the heir to the throne marrying a "papist" and giving men priority over women in the order of succession.

"Because some of our forebears resisted small but significant and symbolically important changes when they became necessary, all sorts of revolutionary ideas started to gain currency - and the 17th Century is marred by that sort of development," he said.

"There is absolutely no reason at all why a person married to a Roman Catholic could not be the supreme governor of the Church of England.

"There is no reason why a Roman Catholic, advised by Ministers, who can be of any religious persuasion or none, could not be the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

"There is no truth in the contention that a change of this kind will unravel the constitution."

Dr Selby also said it was "presumptuous" to assume the Roman Catholic Church would not allow a future King or Queen to maintain their Catholicism while also discharging responsibilities as head of the Anglican church.

The Bill of Rights prevented anybody married to a non-Protestant to hold the throne.