PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
ELEC.O.885
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
2
Lord Blachford in 1868, shows the present state of the law respecting the effect of ordination in enabling Priests and Deacons to officiate or hold preferment in Her Majesty's dominions. The disestablishment of the Irish Church has, however, made some part of it inapplicable.
i. No man may hold preferment or administer 13 & 14 Car. II,
the Sacrament in England unless he is episcopally cap. 4, sec. 14.
ordained.
ii. No man may officiate in England or Ireland
except he is Bishop, Priest, or Deacon of the United 3 & 4 Vict., cap. 33.
Church of England or Ireland;
Or of any of Her Majesty's foreign possessions;
Or of the Scottish Episcopal Church;
Or a Bishop or Priest of the Church of the
United States;
sec. 5.
27 & 28 Vict.,
94.
3 & 4 Vict., cap., 39
sets, 1 & 3.
Or has been ordained by a Bishop consecrated 5 Vict, cap. 6,
under the Jerusalem Bishopric Act.
As to the clergy of Her Majesty's foreign posses-
sions, it is provided that:
sec. 4.
1. A person ordained by the Archbishop of 59 Geo. III, cap.60, Canterbury, or of York, or by the Bishop of secs. 1 and 2.
London, for Colonial employment, without title, is
not capable of preferment in the United Kingdom
without consent of the Diocesan Bishop and of the
ordaining Prelate, and a certificate of good behaviour in the Colony.
2. A person ordained by an Archbishop or Ibid., sec. 3.
Bishop, other than those of England or Ireland, is
not capable of officiating in England or Ireland without approbation of the Archbishop of the Pro-
vince, or of holding preferment without consent of
the Archbishop and of the Diocesan Bishop.
Lec. 4.
3. A person ordained by a Colonial Bishop not 59 Geo. III. cap. 60, having jurisdiction, or not residing in his diocese, is not capable," on any pretence whatever," of hold- ing Ecclesiastical preferment within Her Majesty's dominions, or of officiating at any place or in any manner as a Minister of the Established Church of England and Ireland. This disqualification seems to attach to all persons ordained in dioceses which, according to the Judicial Committee, have been in- sufficiently constituted by the Crown without warrant of law.
4. A person ordained Priest by an English or 3 & 4 Vict., cap. 33,
Irish Bishop after being ordained Deacon by any other Protestant Bishop, can only officiate in England
sec. 6.
15 & 16 Viet., cap. 52.
16 & 17 Vict.,
cap. 49.
27 & 28 Vict..
cap. 34.
3 & 4 Vict., cap. 33, secs. 1 and 3.
5 Viet,, cap. 6.
sec. 4.
3
or Ireland under leave from Diocesan, confined to two days at a time, but renewable.
5. But these disqualifications are wholly or par- tially inapplicable to persons ordained under com- mission from an English, Irish, or Colonial Diocesan, by any Colonial Bishop appointed by Letters-Patent. iii. Scottish Episcopal Clergy may not accept preferment in England or Ireland without consent of the Diocesan Bishop, but become permanently eligible for preferment after one such consent is obtained. They may not officiate in England or Ireland more than one day in three months without notice to the Diocesan or against his prohibition.
iv. Clergy of the United States and Clergy deriving ordination from Bishops consecrated under Jerusalem Bishopric Act, may officate in England and Ireland under license from the Diocesan Bishop, confined to two days, but renewable.
One observation is necessary in order fully to understand the effect of these restrictions. Accord- ing to the prevalent opinion in the English and other Episcopal Churches, ordination cannot properly be repeated; therefore an ordination which does not itself (so far as the religious ceremony goes) qualify a man for officiating in England does not only leave him unqualified, but disables him for ever from obtaining a qualification. If it is inoperative it incapacitates.
The general result of these Acts is, that under them the Scottish Clergy occupy the most favourable position, then those of Colonial Dioceses regularly constituted (including the East Indian), then those of the United States, those ordained under the Jerusa- lem Bishopric Act, and those who are unfortunate enough to have been ordained Priests in England after having received Deacon's orders elsewhere, and lastly, those who are ordained by a Colonial Bishop without jurisdiction or beyond bis Diocese.
These last, as has been observed, are declared incapable of preferment within Her Majesty's dominions, or of officiating anywhere as Ministers of the Established Church of England and Ireland. What the incapacity exactly amounts to may be a subject of question.
Whether persons ordained by Roman or Greek Prelates are equally incapacitated by 3 and 4 Vict., fap. 33, sec. 5, is a question on which opinions have