Catholics and the British throne (Great Britain).

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, a Conservative member of the Scottish Parliament, pointed out last fall that the law preventing the heir to the throne from being a Catholic, or being married to a Catholic, was "a glaring unfairness inflicted on a very large community in Britain." In response Prime Minister Tony Blair (who is married to a Catholic) said that the government has no plans to repeal the Act of Settlement of 1701, which prevents anyone "professing the popish religion" or being "married to a papist" from ascending the throne.

Blair said that any attempt to alter the law would involve amending other pieces of legislation and getting similar amending legislation passed by fifteen other Commonwealth countries. However, the Anglican Archbishop of York, David Hope, did call for a revision of the Act of Settlement and an end to the "negativity" which has marked the relations of his church with the Catholic Church.

Sweden, meanwhile, has moved to disestablish the Lutheran Church. The Primate of the Church of Sweden, Archbishop K.G. Hammar, has welcomed the change, which is to take place this year.