Why is the Church of England speaking up for the EU?

They run a European Church apparently...

Rowena Mason has a fantastic tale that will run and run. The Church of England's Archbishops’ Council, headed by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, has made a submission on Europe to the Foreign Affairs select committee.

It urges the Government to be more constructive and positive in its attitude to the EU, and warns that David Cameron's "veto" last December cost the UK credibility. Leaving the EU would be a "travesty", they claim. Quite a lot of Britons now disagree and think that leaving would be rather a good idea. But the Archbishops explain that they are speaking out because the CofE is “by virtue of its history a European Church”.

Good grief. If the Church of England doesn't even understand the circumstances of its birth, then how can it expect anyone else to care about what it says?

The Church of England separated from Rome in the 1530s at the instigation of the sex-mad Henry VIII. After subsequent backsliding by her sister Mary, the glorious Elizabeth I then introduced another Act of Supremacy, which stipulated that England, and then Britain, did not genuflect to any foreign authority. Later developments (including various civil wars, the execution of a monarch who in the modern parlance "didn't geddit" and a revolution) made Parliament sovereign, with the king or queen of the day "sovereign in Parliament". Parliament in effect has primacy, or did have until the EU came along.

It is not a coincidence that after the separation of the 16th century there began a long period in which England and then Britain were very successful. Not completely obsessed with the continent we looked outwards, to trade and build an empire. Until the 1970s, with entry to the EEC, the idea that British sovereignty was worth defending was accepted equally on the left and right. Despite the claims made at the time, it is now obvious that joining the EU signalled the end of the British notion of sovereignty as we had understood it for 400 years.

So what is the Church of England doing getting involved in the debate about the EU, particularly now, when the European project is imploding, and when there is so much else wrong with our society which needs attention?

It reminds me of that skit by Billy Connolly, in which he spoofs the earnest vicar on "Thought for the day" trying to sound as though he is in-touch with contemporary concerns . The vicar takes his son, Julian, to a football match ("it was terribly exciting") and he asks if the youngster drew any spiritual meaning from the game they had just watched together. "Did Jesus play for Tottenham Hotspur, daddy?" asked his son. The response brings the house down: "Y'know (and it's always y'know), in a funny way he did."

Does God favour a full fiscal union as a response to the Eurocrisis? Is He for Eurobonds and a move to a two-speed Europe? Perhaps the Archbishops' council could enlighten us.