<P> One of the Lords Spiritual is appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be the convenor of the bench; he or she coordinates the work of the bishops in the House . David Urquhart, Bishop of Birmingham, was appointed the current convenor on 18 May 2015 . </P> <P> Authorities differ on whether the Lords Spiritual are peers . Some contend that archbishops and diocesan bishops are peers during their tenures in the House of Lords, while others argue that only the Lords Temporal are peers . Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, for example, unequivocally states, "Diocesan Bishops of England in the Lords are--peers of the kingdom ." On the other hand, the Encyclopædia Britannica of 1911 suggests, "the spiritual lords are not now regarded as peers". </P> <P> Even during the early years of the Peerage, the position of bishops was unclear . During the reign of King Richard II, the Archbishop of Canterbury declared, "of right and by the custom of the realm of England it belongeth to the Archbishop of Canterbury for the time being as well as others his suffragans, brethren and fellow Bishops, Abbots and Priors and other prelates whatsoever,--to be present in person in all the King's Parliaments whatsoever as Peers of the Realm". The claim was neither agreed nor disagreed to, however, by Parliament . </P> <P> The Lords Spiritual at first declared themselves entirely outside the jurisdiction of secular authorities; the question of trial in the House of Lords did not arise . When papal authority was great, the King could do little but admit a lack of jurisdiction over the prelates . Later, however, when the power of the Pope in England was reduced, the Lords Spiritual came under the authority of the secular courts . The jurisdiction of the common courts was clearly established by the time of Henry VIII, who declared himself head of the Church of England in place of the Pope, ending the constitutional power of the Roman Catholic Church in England . </P>

Why are there bishops in the house of lords
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