CHURCH AND STATE

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27877, 27 January 1956, Page 11

CHURCH AND STATE

Views Of Archbishop Of Canterbury

(Rec. 8 p.m.) LONDON, January 25. The Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. G. F. Fisher) told foreign correspondents in London today that to separate the Church of England from the State would be “an even deeper difficulty than separating husband and wife.”

Opposing the idea of disestablishment, or separation of the Church from the State, the Archbishop said: “The general answer at this moment whenever disestablishment is mentioned is ‘No’; and in that answer not only the members of the Church of England, but also the members of the Free Churches and the Roman Catholic Church all combine.”

The Archbishop, who was speaking to the Foreign Press Association, said the hardest thing in Britain for a foreigner to understand was the Church of England. “The Church of England does not receive a single penny from the Government or from public funds. The doctrine of the Church of England is in no way whatsoever directed or controlled by the State,” he added. Asked what he thought about the future of Jerusalem, the Archbishop said: “From every point of view the only hope is to internationalise the area and give freedom to all the religious denominations.”

Attitude to Divorce Asked how the Church of England reconciled its present attitude to divorce with the fact that it had sanctioned the divorce of Henry VIII. Dr. Fisher replied: “The Church of England never did sanction the divorces of Henry VIII. “He had marriages annulled, which is quite a different thing from divorce. “Annulment says that there was no marriage at all, and therefore you are free to marry. “The Pope was quite as good at giving that kind of divorce as the Church of England was.”