The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-01-07
THE CORONATION OATH,


THE CORONATION OATH.
A sermon was preached in Ottawa last
month by priest Of that city, in which
the article in the :, English coronation
oath which stigmatizes transubstantia-
ton as "superstitious" and the mass as
'"idolatry," was denounced as an insult
to the Catholics of the United Kingdom,
and demand was made for its ex-
pungement, writes Father Phelan in the
Western Waterman. The incident was
at once cabled over to England and we
are informed that it created tremen-
dous sensation. That coronation oath is
the very apple of the eye of English
Professionalism, and it will endure while
Anglicanism continues to be the estab-
lished religion Of England.
In 1902 the English parliament passed
the act of settlement. 1t was designed
to prevent the English nation ever re-
turning to Roman allegiance. BY it the
king or queen of England is required to
be Protestant, and the royal consort is
required not to be a Papist. At least
they must be so at the time they take
the coronation oath. There have been
rumors from time to time that Queen
Victoria was a Catholic. and went to
confession, and some years ago q tremen-
dous sensation was created by publ
cation to that effect by an individual of
some credit in England. We do not be-
lieve that Queen Victoria is Catholic
any more than we believe she Is an An
glican. When in Scotland she attends
the kirk, and when out Of her kingdom
she attends no church at all. Her daugh-
ter, Augusta, OF Germany, is free
thinker of the most advanced type. She
herself, we are inclined to believe, is an
easy-going Christian, who thinks one
religion as good as another, and the
Catholic certainly not the worst of all.
She will not die a Catholic. OF that we
feel quite sure.
But the question arises, might reign
ing sovereign of England become Cath
Ollie without necessarily losing his
crown? Can he be converted from his
Professionalism after his accession? There
would seem to be no law to deprive him
of his crown for that or any other rea-
son. In the theory of the English mon
archy the king can do no wrong, and
such legal impeccability would cover his
lapse from the state church. True, he
Is to all intents and purposes the head
of the Anglican church, and is bound by
his oath to protect her in her rights. But
he can be all that and still be a Catholic,
as English kings have been that, and
were pagans and intidels at heart The
fact is, the English parliament is now
the actual ruler of church and state, and
an oath Of office administered to it's
members when taking their seats would
be far more important than the kings
coronation oath. The royal family of
England is split up in religious matters
most astonishingly. The ex-empress of
Germany is Lutheran by profession and
a free thinker in practice; the daughter
of the duke of Edinburgh is a Catholic,
some children of the queen have fol-
AO"So sAASAA AOA Aldu luLO
theranism, and will follow them into the
Catholic church if there was a crown
awaiting their profession Of faith. In
fact the religion of monarch is now a
matter of external conformity, and the
old adage, "cujus est regio illus est
religio," has been so changed that it
would be truer to say "quae regions est
religio eadem est ct regis" The reigning
houses of the Greek faith are as
tickle in their faith as those be-
longing to the sects. A sister of
the emperor of Germany has become a
Greek, and the princess of Naples has
become Catholic. The time is gone by
when people cared what religion a mon
arch professed; and one of the rights of
rulers in our day is that of going to hell
or heaven in their own way AS far as
Catholics are concerned in the salvation
Of English kings or queens, they give
them all the rights claimed by the hum
blest of their subjects, and if their crowns
are made to fit only on Protestant heads
they may clip their crowns or their heads
as best suits their taste or convenience.