House of Lords

===Lords Spiritual===
{{Main|Lords Spiritual}}

Members of the House of Lords who sit by virtue of their ecclesiastical offices are known as Lords Spiritual.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/lords-spiritual-and-temporal/|title=Lords Spiritual and Temporal|publisher=[[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]}}</ref> Formerly, the Lords Spiritual were the majority in the English House of Lords,<ref name=shell1>[[#Shell|Shell]] (2007), p. 54.</ref> comprising the church's [[archbishop]]s, (diocesan) bishops, [[abbot]]s, and those [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|prior]]s who were entitled to wear a [[mitre]]. After the [[English Reformation]]'s high point in 1539, only the archbishops and bishops continued to attend, as the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] had just disposed of and suppressed the positions of abbot and prior. In 1642, during the few gatherings of the Lords convened during [[English Interregnum]] which saw periodic war, the Lords Spiritual were excluded altogether, but they returned under the [[Clergy Act 1661]].

The number of Lords Spiritual was further restricted by the [[Bishopric of Manchester Act 1847]], and by later Acts. The Lords Spiritual can now number no more than 26: these are the Archbishops of [[Archbishop of Canterbury|Canterbury]] and [[Archbishop of York|York]], the Bishops of [[Bishop of London|London]], [[Bishop of Durham|Durham]] and [[Bishop of Winchester|Winchester]] (who sit by right regardless of seniority), and the 21 longest-serving archbishops and bishops from other [[diocese]]s in the Church of England<ref>[[#Shell|Shell]] (2007), p. 53.</ref> (excluding the dioceses of [[Diocese of Sodor and Man|Sodor and Man]] and [[Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe|Gibraltar in Europe]], as these lie entirely outside the United Kingdom).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2001/en/ukpgaen_20010013_en_1|title=Explanatory Notes to The House of Commons (Removal of Clergy Disqualification) Act 2001|publisher=[[Office of Public Sector Information]]|location=London, United Kingdom|access-date=5 September 2009|date=21 May 2001}}</ref> Following a change to the law in 2014 to allow women to be ordained archbishops and bishops, the [[Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015]] was passed, which provides that whenever a vacancy arises among the Lords Spiritual during the ten years following the Act coming into force, the vacancy has to be filled by a woman, if one is eligible. This does not apply to the five archbishops and bishops who sit by right.

The current Lords Spiritual represent only the Church of England. Archbishops and bishops of the [[Church of Scotland]] historically sat in the Parliament of Scotland but were finally excluded in 1689 (after a number of previous exclusions) when the Church of Scotland became permanently Presbyterian. There are no longer archbishops and [[bishops in the Church of Scotland]] in the traditional sense of the word, and that Church has never sent members to sit in the Westminster House of Lords. The [[Church of Ireland]] did obtain representation in the House of Lords after the union of Ireland and Great Britain in 1801. Of the Church of Ireland's ecclesiastics, four (one archbishop and three bishops) were to sit at any one time, with the members rotating at the end of every parliamentary session (which normally lasted about one year). The Church of Ireland, however, was [[Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland|disestablished]] in 1871, and thereafter ceased to be represented by Lords Spiritual. Archbishops and bishops of Welsh sees in the Church of England originally sat in the House of Lords (after 1847, only if their seniority within the church entitled them to), but the [[Church in Wales]] ceased to be a part of the Church of England in 1920 and was simultaneously [[Disestablishment of the Church in Wales|disestablished]] in Wales.<ref>[[#Shell|Shell]] (2007), p. 55.</ref> Accordingly, archbishops and bishops of the Church in Wales were no longer eligible to be appointed to the House as archbishops and bishops of the Church of England, but those already appointed remained.

Other ecclesiastics have sat in the House of Lords as Lords Temporal in recent times: [[Immanuel Jakobovits]], [[List of chief rabbis of the United Hebrew Congregations|Chief Rabbi]] of the [[United Synagogue]] (the largest organisation of [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] congregations in Britain) was appointed to the House of Lords (with the consent of [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]], who acted on the advice of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher), as was his successor Chief Rabbi [[Jonathan Sacks]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chiefrabbi.org/ReadContent1849.aspx |title=Biography of the Chief Rabbi |publisher=Office of the Chief Rabbi |location=London, United Kingdom |access-date=16 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001042614/http://www.chiefrabbi.org/ReadContent1849.aspx |archive-date=1 October 2009}}</ref> [[Julia Neuberger]] is the senior rabbi to the West London Synagogue. In recognition of his work at reconciliation and in the [[Northern Ireland peace process|peace process]] in [[Northern Ireland]], the [[Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland)|Archbishop of Armagh]] (the senior Anglican archbishop in [[Ireland]]), [[Robin Eames]], was appointed to the Lords by [[John Major]]. Other clergy appointed include [[Donald Soper]], [[Timothy Beaumont]], and some Scottish clerics.

There have been no Roman Catholic clergy appointed, though it was rumoured that Cardinal [[Basil Hume]] and his successor Cardinal [[Cormac Murphy O'Connor]] were offered peerages by [[James Callaghan]], Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair respectively, but declined.{{clarify|date=January 2022}} [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]] Hume later accepted the [[Order of Merit (Commonwealth)|Order of Merit]], a personal appointment of Queen Elizabeth II, shortly before his death. Cardinal Murphy O'Connor for his part said he had his [[maiden speech]] ready, but ultimately did not accept a peerage. Future appointments of Catholic clergy to the Lords is unlikely, as since the promulgation of the [[1983 Code of Canon Law|1983 ''Code of Canon Law'']], all Catholic clergy of the [[Latin Church]] have been [[Catholic priests in public office|discouraged from holding secular public office]], and all [[secular clergy|diocesan priests]] and bishops have been completely prohibited from it (excepting only political offices of the [[Vatican City|Vatican City State]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=THE OBLIGATIONS AND RIGHTS OF CLERICS |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_PY.HTM |work=Code of Canon Law - IntraText |publisher=[[Libreria Editrice Vaticana]]}}</ref>

Former Archbishops of Canterbury, having reverted to the status of a regular bishop but no longer diocesans, are invariably given life peerages and sit as Lords Temporal.

By custom at least one of the archbishops or bishops reads prayers in each legislative day (a role taken by the chaplain in the Commons).<ref name=shell1/> They often speak in debates; in 2004 [[Rowan Williams]], the Archbishop of Canterbury, opened a debate into sentencing legislation.<ref name=shell1/> [[List of Church of England Measures|Measures]] ([[Bill (proposed law)|proposed laws]] of the Church of England) must be put before the Lords, and the Lords Spiritual have a role in ensuring that this takes place.<ref name=shell1/>