fullscreen: Responsible government in the Dominions (Vol. 3)

PART VII. THE CHURCH IN THE 
DOMINIONS 
CHAPTER IT 
§ 1. Tur LEcaL Position oF THE CHURCH 
Tur position of the Church in the Colonies presents a 
remarkable contrast to the position of the Church in the 
United Kingdom. It is true that at the present day the 
gradual disuse or formal repeal of the powers of ecclesias- 
tical jurisdiction, other than those referring to ecclesiastical 
members of the Church itself, has considerably diminished 
the importance of the official recognition by the State of 
the Church as an essential part of the State. But the 
connexion has only been diminished ; it remains in full force 
in many particulars, and the presence of the bishops in the 
House of Lords is a significant sign of the connexion of 
Church and State. Moreover, the Crown not only has the 
full control over the appointment of the archbishops 
and bishops, besides possessing an extensive ecclesiastical 
patronage, but the ecclesiastical Courts exercise complete 
jurisdiction on the terms laid down by Parliament over 
members of the Church itself. 
In the Dominions at the present day, except in the case 
of the Province of Quebec, it cannot be said that there is 
any organic connexion between the Church and the State. 
' In a sense the State has little control over the Church in Quebec, which 
is subject to an external power, the Pope, who issues laws binding Catholics— 
cf. his marriage laws in the Canadian Annual Review, 1908, p. 629, and 
Gladstone, Vatican Decrees, p. 43. But the Church can compel by law the 
payment of dues by Roman Catholics, and thus obtains great privilege from, 
while independent of, the State. The Law Officers once advised that the 
Crown could appoint Roman Catholic bishops in Canada by the prerogative, 
but it was not done ; see Forsyth, Cases and Opinions on Constitutional 
Law, pp. 49-51. 
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