Challenging Magna Carta?
Only 3 of the 13th century Magna Carta's 63 clauses are still valid in English law. One of these 3 is the first, which guarantees the freedom of the English Church. The original charter was written in medieval Latin. An English translation of this clause (from the British Library) reads as follows: "FIRST, THAT WE HAVE GRANTED TO GOD, and by this present charter have confirmed for us and our heirs in perpetuity, that the English Church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its liberties unimpaired. That we wish this so to be observed, appears from the fact that of our own free will, before the outbreak of the present dispute between us and our barons, we granted and confirmed by charter the freedom of the Church's elections - a right reckoned to be of the greatest necessity and importance to it - and caused this to be confirmed by Pope Innocent III. This freedom we shall observe ourselves, and desire to be observed in good faith by our heirs i