Roman Catholicism in Great Britain
Encyclopedia
Roman Catholicism in the United Kingdom refers to the practice of Roman Catholicism in Great Britain
and Ireland
since the creation of the United Kingdom
.
From long before the creation of the kingdom of Great Britain
in 1707, Roman Catholics were discriminated against
in England
and Scotland
in significant ways: in all the kingdoms of the British Isles
, they were excluded from voting, from sitting in Parliament, and from the learned professions. Such disabilities continued after the Acts of Union 1800 which created the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
in 1801. At that time, Catholic Emancipation
was gathering speed but was not yet a reality, particularly in Ireland
, where the Protestant Ascendancy
was still in full force.
The Treaty of Union
of 1707, like the Act of Settlement
, had stated that no "Papist
" could succeed to the throne
. Restrictions on the civil rights of Roman Catholics only began to change with the passing of the Papists Act 1778
, which allowed them to own property, inherit land and join the British Army
, although even this measure resulted in the backlash of the Gordon Riots
of 1780, showing the depth of continuing anti-Catholic feeling. Over the next half century, an influx of thousands of Catholics fleeing the French Revolution
, plus a thawing in relations with the Catholic world during the Napoleonic Wars
, when the British were allied with the Catholic states of Portugal
and Spain
as well as with the Holy See
itself, meant that by 1829 the political climate had changed enough to allow Parliament to pass the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, giving Roman Catholics almost equal civil rights, including the right to vote and to hold most public offices.
The Great Irish Famine, and the large-scale emigration from Ireland which followed it, led to an increase in the numbers of Catholics in England
, Wales
and Scotland
. This in turn led Pope Pius IX
to have Catholic hierarchies re-established in England and Wales
in 1850 and restored in Scotland
in 1878. Since then a number of prominent individuals have converted to Catholicism, including John Henry Newman, Augustus Pugin
, Muriel Spark
, Gerard Manley Hopkins
, G. K. Chesterton
, Ronald Knox
, Evelyn Waugh
, Graham Greene
, Malcolm Muggeridge
and Joseph Pearce
. Members of the Royal family such as the Duchess of Kent and former Prime Minister
Tony Blair
have also converted to Catholicism, in Blair's case in December 2007 after he had left office.
According to the Central Statistical Office of the Church, Great Britain
has a population of 59,381,000 of whom 5,264,000 (8.87%) are Catholics. There are 32 ecclesiastical circumscriptions and 2,977 parishes.
With Catholicism organised by three separate national churches within the worldwide Catholic Church, there is no single hierarchy for Roman Catholicism in the United Kingdom. For details of these separate churches and the history of Catholicism in the countries they serve, see:
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
since the creation of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
From long before the creation of the kingdom of Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
in 1707, Roman Catholics were discriminated against
Anti-Catholicism in the United Kingdom
Institutional Anti-Catholicism in the United Kingdom has its origins in the English and Irish Reformations under Henry VIII and the Scottish Reformation led by John Knox...
in England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
and Scotland
Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
in significant ways: in all the kingdoms of the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
, they were excluded from voting, from sitting in Parliament, and from the learned professions. Such disabilities continued after the Acts of Union 1800 which created the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
in 1801. At that time, Catholic Emancipation
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the penal laws...
was gathering speed but was not yet a reality, particularly in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, where the Protestant Ascendancy
Protestant Ascendancy
The Protestant Ascendancy, usually known in Ireland simply as the Ascendancy, is a phrase used when referring to the political, economic, and social domination of Ireland by a minority of great landowners, Protestant clergy, and professionals, all members of the Established Church during the 17th...
was still in full force.
The Treaty of Union
Treaty of Union
The Treaty of Union is the name given to the agreement that led to the creation of the united kingdom of Great Britain, the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, which took effect on 1 May 1707...
of 1707, like the Act of Settlement
Act of Settlement
Act of Settlement may refer to:*Statute of Legal Settlement 1547, legislation regarding the settlement of the poor*Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652, in response to the Irish Rebellion of 1641...
, had stated that no "Papist
Papist
Papist is a term or an anti-Catholic slur, referring to the Roman Catholic Church, its teachings, practices, or adherents. The term was coined during the English Reformation to denote a person whose loyalties were to the Pope, rather than to the Church of England...
" could succeed to the throne
Succession to the British Throne
Succession to the British throne is governed both by common law and statute. Under common law the crown is currently passed on by male-preference primogeniture. In other words, succession passes first to an individual's sons, in order of birth, and subsequently to daughters, again in order of birth....
. Restrictions on the civil rights of Roman Catholics only began to change with the passing of the Papists Act 1778
Papists Act 1778
The Papists Act 1778 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain and was the first Act for Catholic Relief. Later in 1778 It was also enacted by the Irish parliament....
, which allowed them to own property, inherit land and join the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, although even this measure resulted in the backlash of the Gordon Riots
Gordon Riots
The Gordon Riots of 1780 were an anti-Catholic protest against the Papists Act 1778.The Popery Act 1698 had imposed a number of penalties and disabilities on Roman Catholics in England; the 1778 act eliminated some of these. An initial peaceful protest led on to widespread rioting and looting and...
of 1780, showing the depth of continuing anti-Catholic feeling. Over the next half century, an influx of thousands of Catholics fleeing the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, plus a thawing in relations with the Catholic world during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, when the British were allied with the Catholic states of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
as well as with the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
itself, meant that by 1829 the political climate had changed enough to allow Parliament to pass the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, giving Roman Catholics almost equal civil rights, including the right to vote and to hold most public offices.
The Great Irish Famine, and the large-scale emigration from Ireland which followed it, led to an increase in the numbers of Catholics in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. This in turn led Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
to have Catholic hierarchies re-established in England and Wales
Universalis Ecclesiae
Universalis Ecclesiae is the incipit of the papal bull of 29 September 1850 by which Pope Pius IX recreated the Roman Catholic diocesan hierarchy in England, which had been extinguished with the death of the last Marian bishop in the reign of Elizabeth I. New names were given to the dioceses, as...
in 1850 and restored in Scotland
Restoration of the Scottish hierarchy
The Restoration of the Scottish hierarchy refers to the re-establishment of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland on 15 March 1878...
in 1878. Since then a number of prominent individuals have converted to Catholicism, including John Henry Newman, Augustus Pugin
Augustus Pugin
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin was an English architect, designer, and theorist of design, now best remembered for his work in the Gothic Revival style, particularly churches and the Palace of Westminster. Pugin was the father of E. W...
, Muriel Spark
Muriel Spark
Dame Muriel Spark, DBE was an award-winning Scottish novelist. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Early life:...
, Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. was an English poet, Roman Catholic convert, and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous 20th-century fame established him among the leading Victorian poets...
, G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....
, Ronald Knox
Ronald Knox
Ronald Arbuthnott Knox was an English priest, theologian and writer.-Life:Ronald Knox was born in Kibworth, Leicestershire, England into an Anglican family and was educated at Eton College, where he took the first scholarship in 1900 and Balliol College, Oxford, where again...
, Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
, Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
, Malcolm Muggeridge
Malcolm Muggeridge
Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge was an English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist. During World War II, he was a soldier and a spy...
and Joseph Pearce
Joseph Pearce
Joseph Pearce is an English-born writer, and Writer in Residence and Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida; previously he had a comparable position, from 2001, at Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He is known for a number of literary biographies, many of...
. Members of the Royal family such as the Duchess of Kent and former Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
have also converted to Catholicism, in Blair's case in December 2007 after he had left office.
According to the Central Statistical Office of the Church, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
has a population of 59,381,000 of whom 5,264,000 (8.87%) are Catholics. There are 32 ecclesiastical circumscriptions and 2,977 parishes.
With Catholicism organised by three separate national churches within the worldwide Catholic Church, there is no single hierarchy for Roman Catholicism in the United Kingdom. For details of these separate churches and the history of Catholicism in the countries they serve, see:
- the Catholic Church in England and Wales,
- the Roman Catholicism in IrelandRoman Catholicism in IrelandThe Catholic Church in Ireland is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, the Christian Church with full communion with the Pope, currently Benedict XVI...
(which includes Roman Catholicism in Northern IrelandNorthern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
), - the Roman Catholicism in ScotlandRoman Catholicism in ScotlandRoman Catholicism in Scotland , overseen by the Scottish Bishops' Conference, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, the Christian Church in full communion with the Pope, currently Pope Benedict XVI. After being firmly established in Scotland for a millennium, Catholicism was outlawed following...
.
See also
- List of Roman Catholic dioceses in England and Wales
- List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Ireland (including those in Northern Ireland)
- List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Scotland
- Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United KingdomPope Benedict XVI's visit to the United KingdomPope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom from 16 to 19 September 2010 was the first state visit by a pope to the United Kingdom...
- Religion in the United KingdomReligion in the United KingdomReligion in the United Kingdom and the states that pre-dated the UK, was dominated by forms of Christianity for over 1,400 years. Although a majority of citizens still identify with Christianity in many surveys, regular church attendance has fallen dramatically since the middle of the 20th century,...