The Hindu : Church decision historic

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 11, 2002

International

International

Church decision historic

By Hasan Suroor

Prince Charles with his companion, Camilla Parker-Bowles, in London in this June 26 Photo.

LONDON JULY 10. The Church of England, in a historic move on Tuesday, decided to lift its controversial ban on marriages between divorcees where a former spouse of either of the two is still alive.

The fact that the long time companion of Prince Charles, Ms. Parker Bowles' former husband is alive has been a formidable obstacle to the Prince of Wales marrying her. His aunt, the late Princess Margaret, was forced to give up plans to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend, a divorcee with an extant ex-spouse, because the Church would not recognise such a marriage.

The "Prince Charles factor'' apart, the move has been hailed as a big step towards modernising the Church practices and bringing them closer to the realities of everyday life. Pro-change campaigners said the breakdown of marriages was a "wretched'' reality and more and more divorced couples were remarrying.

``As things stand, we present an uncertain, incoherent picture to those who want to know where the Church of England stands on an issue which sadly touches the lives of many thousands of people,'' said the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt. Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, who introduced the proposal to lift the ban at a meeting of the General Synod, which approved it by an overwhelming majority.

Though the Bishop made it clear that the decision to remove the 45-year-old ban had nothing to do with Prince Charles' dilemma, media interest focussed entirely on its implications for the royal family.

In recent months, the Prince and Ms. Parker Bowles have been appearing together in public frequently, first during the funeral of the Queen Mother and then at the Queen's Golden jubilee celebrations, indicating that the Queen has started to take a more relaxed view of their relationship.

Last year, when Prince Charles was quizzed on the issue he said philosophically: "Will I be alive tomorrow? Who knows what the good Lord has planned.''

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