Multi-faith push by Euro court

Medieval law may mean Westminster Abbey will not open its doors to other religions. Photo/File

Leaders of all three of Britain's main political parties have condemned last week's ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that "state-sponsored" religious buildings must be available for use by all major faiths.

Although the decision in Ali v the Kingdom of Denmark did not deal explicitly with Britain, its links to the monarchy mean that the Church of England, like the Danish State Church, will fall within the scope of the ruling.

The Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian churches will be unaffected as they have no links to the Crown at all.

The Muniments Office at Canterbury Cathedral has pointed out that whether the ruling affects particular church buildings will depend upon whether their founding documents include the "anti-heresy" provisions common in medieval times and limit the scope for secular interference. The oldest churches, including Westminster Abbey, should be exempt.

Anti-heresy provisions became illegal after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536, so buildings erected after that date will not be protected.

Some see that as an advantage, the Deanery of St Paul's Cathedral in London commenting that the wider use of the building could help fund maintenance costs. "It might be better to go multi-faith than to increase admission charges again," one spokesman said.

Other aspects of the ruling could also cause problems. Those churches that become multi-faith will be required to change their names to something neutral.

It is expected that many will simply call themselves "Church of God", although the Deanery has indicated St Paul's itself might be renamed "the Cathedral of Paul of Smithfield" after the master builder employed by Christopher Wren, in order to preserve the goodwill connected with the name Paul.

The court has yet to give judgment on a parallel challenge from Mr Ali relating to the names of public holidays. "How can it be right that in the 21st century these are still biased towards Christian festivals?" his lawyers have asked.

In England, which does not give holidays on saints' days, a change would be fairly easy to deal with. Christmas and Easter could simply be balanced by holidays to celebrate Yom Kippur , Ramadan and Diwali.

In continental Europe, however, where public holidays are often dedicated to the Virgin Mary or to the apostles, there could be more of a problem, or possibly an opportunity.

The office of French president Francois Hollande has suggested renaming could be used to celebrate the Glory of France, adding to the existing holiday of Bastille Day new holidays to celebrate the invention of the guillotine, Agincourt and the lives of great reforming monarchs such as Henry IV and his daughter Averil the First.

Before retiring, John Watson was a partner in an international law firm. He now writes from London