Your Grace,

I am writing to you as the Primate of an Anglican Communion Province or National Church whose church serves a nation which is a member of the Commonwealth. The following is an appeal to all Primates of Commonwealth Nations.

I am appealing to you to give your counsel to His Majesty King Charles III, the head of the Commonwealth, at this time of great trial for him. At his Coronation Charles made various oaths about what sort of a ruler he would be. He committed himself to “maintain the Laws of God” and to exercise his power to uphold “Law and Justice, in Mercy”. At this time, he is facing a great trial and will need your prayers and guidance.

As Anglicans as we gather on a Sunday around Christ whom we receive in Word and Sacrament we are reminded of the foundational elements of God’s Law, the ten commandments. Cranmer in his great wisdom crafted a liturgy in which the minister reads God’s Law “Thou shalt do no murder” to which the people respond in prayer “Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law”. You may or may not be aware that in the last week the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom has passed two pieces of legislation which are an afront to the sanctity of life. Firstly, via an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill parliament voted to remove criminal sanction from mothers who opt to murder the infants they carry after the legal limit on abortion and when the child is viable outside the womb. Secondly, via passing the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill Members of Parliament have introduced a legal framework under which patients will be offered government funded assistance in ending their life by the very medical professionals who are meant to work to help them live. This second bill has been wrongly categorised as only available to the terminally ill, but this is not the case as it includes multiple illnesses which are not terminal for example those with eating disorders such as anorexia will also be offered assistance in ending their lives. Both of these Bills are an affront to the sanctity of life and involve the state either passively or actively in the taking of life; these bills are licenses to murder. I therefore appeal to you as Primates to give your counsel to His Majesty King Charles III to the effect that he must uphold his coronation vows and oath.

As king His Majesty holds the royal prerogative which means he must give royal assent before a law can come into effect, and he holds the power to prorogue parliament which would mean all legislation currently in process falls and a general election is held. His Majesty the king is the guardian of the constitution of the United Kingdom which establishes it as a Christian nation under God, and it is this he swore to uphold.

For many of you His Majesty, King Charles III, is not your king but rather the head of the Commonwealth, yet your counsel to him is still warranted under his role as head of the Commonwealth. I must highlight to you that these laws have been couched respectively in the language of women’s empowerment and human rights in the way that they have been promoted. The Commonwealth Charter has as its second value “Human Rights” and as it’s twelfth “Gender Equality”. The way human rights and gender equality are thought to be interpreted by the Head of the Commonwealth through the legislation he enacts is important for the whole of the commonwealth. It is vital for all commonwealth nations that human rights and gender equality are not equated with the taking of the lives of innocent men, women, and children.

I write to you as currently we find ourselves in a grave situation where the Second Church Estates Commissioner in advance of the vote in relation to the amendment moved to decriminalise abortion advised parliament the Church believed this was right stating “women should not face criminalisation”. After the vote this was then repeated by an anonymous spokesperson for Church House and now this has been repeated by the Bishop of London. This change in public position to support abortion has happened without the consent of the House of Bishops or General Synod more widely. It seems those who currently hold power whilst the see of Canterbury is vacant see no reason to consult the Church of England on such vitally important matters, let alone have regard to the views of the Anglican Communion so clearly expressed in Resolution 16 of the 1930 Lambeth Conference which has never been overturned to the effect that abortion is an abhorrent sin. Secondly, in relation to the bill which offers people assistance in taking their lives there has been no statement from the House of Bishops. It is unsurprising then that Anglican Members of Parliament have spoken about the lack of direction from the church on this matter. We are in the regretful position currently where the Church of England, Church in Wales, Church of Scotland, and Church of Ireland are not providing the Christian teaching and witness that our legislators need, therefore, I believe it is unlikely they are providing the wise counsel King Charles III will need at this time.

I write to you in sorrow but not without hope. I implore you to act and to assist Charles III in this his hour of trial.

Yours in Christ,

Cornelius Harding,

An Anglican Layman from England