§ MR. CARVELL WILLIAMS (Nottinghamshire, Mansfield)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether the consecration of churches in India renders illegal the performance therein of services other than those of the Church of England; and, if not, will Government churches be used as heretofore under the control of the military authorities for services for Her Majesty's troops.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingThe hon. Member will find full information on the subject of his question in the papers which I have to-day laid on the Table. The consecration by the Church of England of churches in India does not prevent other denominations from using them, provided they do so with the assent of the ecclesiastical authority to whom these buildings have been transferred. This principle equally applies to all other churches which have been handed over to other denominations for their special use. There has been no departure under the new rules from past practice, except that the authorities of the Church of England are prepared to assent to a more liberal use by other denominations of the churches appertaining to them than was previously the case.