ABSTRACT
In July of 1978 the General Synod voted against accepting the majority recommendation of the Lichfield Commission that, with a bishop’s permission, a divorced person could be remarried in church. Later that same year, however, in November, the Synod commended the Lichfield Report to the dioceses for consideration. The Standing Committee that reviewed the diocesan responses was chaired by Robert Runcie, who was enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury on 25 March 1980. In their Report, dated 13 January 1981, the Standing Committee concluded that a majority of the dioceses approved of the Lichfield Commission’s recommendation to rescind the Convocation regulations requiring a bishop’s permission for the admission of a divorced person to Communion. Accordingly the Standing Committee asked the Synod to reconsider that recommendation. 1
When the Synod met in February of 1981, they received the report of the Standing Committee and agreed to two key recommendations regarding marriage and divorce. The Synod approved the rescission of the current rules regulating the admission of divorced persons to Holy Communion and recommended the continuation of services of prayer and dedication after remarriage. During the debate, Archbishop Runcie began his speech by announcing the engagement of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. When he said, ‘Archbishops of Canterbury don’t get much opportunity for marrying people’, the Synod responded with ‘delighted laughter’. 2 Little could those present imagine that one day the remarriage of Prince Charles, after his divorce and the death of his former wife, would be the subject of debate on the very issue under discussion in February of 1981.
