ECCLESIASTICAL LAW

may, in the broad sense of the term, be taken to in elude the regulations existing in any Church or sect, however small, for the formation of its own polity and for the control of its members. It is, however, more generally applied to those legal bonds which exist between Established Churches and the State. The Roman Catholic Church claims to be the one and only true Church, regards her laws as being of universal application, and herself as an equal with the State; neverthele she has, in non-Catholic countries, no higher Iegal standing than any small and obscure di enting congregation, and is in this respect a ‘free’ Church. Protestant ecclesiastical law claims no such sovereign power, and in no way interferes with the State law. In England the Convocations of York and Canterbury have no authority to change the law, their power being limited to the making of recommendations. All changes in disappeared with the disestablishment of the Church. IMG:fig046_1.jpg: