Anti-Catholicism: Encyclopedia II - Anti-Catholicism - Historical anti-Catholicism

Anti-Catholicism - Historical anti-Catholicism

Many countries have had a long history of conflict between Catholics and Protestants, or less commonly, Catholics and Orthodox Christians.

Political anti-Catholicism has existed in various Protestant countries, and in particular the English speaking countries. Protestantism was firmly established in England with the accession of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1570, Pope Pius V sought to depose her with the Regnans in Excelsis ("Ruling on high"), which purported to declare Elizabeth deposed and to acquit her Catholic subjects of further allegiance to her. This added a political dimension to what was a purely religious conflict, and rendered Elizabeth's subjects who persisted in allegiance to the Catholic Church politically suspect.

The failed invasion of England by the Spanish Armada has been cited as an attempt by Philip II of Spain to put into effect the Pope's decree, and to enforce a claim to the throne of England he held as a result of being the widower of Mary I of England. Later episodes that deepened anti-Catholicism in England include the Gunpowder Plot, in which Guy Fawkes and other Catholic conspirators attempted to blow up the English Parliament while it was in session. Later, the "Popish Plot" involving Titus Oates was used by anti-Catholics to make Catholicism seem a renewed political menace by means of a fictitious assassination scheme.

In the context of long-standing attitudes among many British people to Catholicism, the beliefs that underlie this sort of anti-Catholicism were summarized by William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the Laws of England:

The gravamen of this charge, then, is that Catholics constitute an imperium in imperio, a sort of a fifth column of persons who owe a greater allegiance to the Pope than they do to the civil government, a charge very similar to that repeatedly leveled at Jews. Accordingly, a large body of British laws, collectively known as the penal laws, imposed various civil disabilities and legal penalties on recusant Catholics. These laws were gradually repealed over the course of the nineteenth century with laws such as the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829; however, the law of succession to the British throne continues to bar Catholics, and anyone married to a "papist", from the line of succession. Although on that it should be noted that British royalty are still considered to have a religious role as the head of the Church of England.

These accusations had to some extent been exported to the United States. John Jay in 1788 promoted the New York legislature to require officeholders to renounce foreign authorities "in all matters ecclesiastical as well as civil."[6]. More significant anti-Catholicism has historically been conspicuous among the beliefs of various nativist organisations from the Know-Nothing Party to the Ku Klux Klan. The case of the murder of Father James Coyle had more to do with racial issues, but is a prime example of anti-Catholic violence in the US. In more recent years, suspicion of the political aims and agenda of the Catholic Church have been revived several times. In 1949, Paul Blanshard's book American Freedom and Catholic Power portrayed the Catholic Church as an anti-democratic force hostile to freedom of speech and religion, eager to impose itself on the United States by boycott and subterfuge. These accusations continue to have supporters because of the Catholic hierarchy's alliance with the right to life groups and threats to withhold Eucharist from Catholics who vote in favor of actions deemed opposed to Church teaching, such as abortion, assisted suicide or same-sex marriage.

It should be mentioned though that this is not precisely excommunication. Few excommunications of political figures have occurred in modern times[7]. The confirmed cases of excommunicated Catholic politicians were primarily Communists or military dictators. Added to that according to Catholic teaching those in a state of mortal sin should not receive the Eucharist, which Catholicism considers a biblical rule that is not specific to any occupation.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Historical anti-Catholicism", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki