The Church of Scotland (Lord High Commissioner) Bill would remove the restriction on people of the Roman Catholic faith holding the office of His Majesty’s lord high commissioner to the general assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Church of Scotland (Lord High Commissioner) Bill (324KB PDF)
Approximate read time: 10 minutes
At present, Roman Catholics are legally restricted from holding the office of lord high commissioner due to historic legislation, such as the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829. The Church of Scotland (Lord High Commissioner) Bill would remove this restriction. This would facilitate the upcoming appointment of Lady Elish Angiolini, a practising Roman Catholic, as the lord high commissioner in 2025. She would become the first Roman Catholic to hold this office.
It is a government bill and is being fast-tracked. It was introduced in the House of Commons on 13 February 2025 and passed all its stages on 4 March 2025. Its second reading in the House of Lords is scheduled to take place on 19 March 2025.
Church of Scotland (Lord High Commissioner) Bill (324KB PDF)
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