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Catholic emancipation orCatholic relief was a process in theUnited Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions onRoman Catholics introduced by theAct of Uniformity, theTest Acts and thepenal laws. Requirements toabjure (renounce) the temporal and spiritual authority of thepope andtransubstantiation placed major burdens on Roman Catholics.[1]
The penal laws started to be dismantled from 1766. The most significant measure was theRoman Catholic Relief Act 1829, which removed the most substantial restrictions onRoman Catholicism in the United Kingdom.
TheAct of Settlement 1701 and theBill of Rights 1689 provisions on the monarchy still require themonarch of the United Kingdom to not be a Catholic. The Bill of Rights asserts that "it hath been found by experience that it is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant Kingdom to be governed by a Papist Prince" and requires a new monarch to swear a coronation oath to maintain the Protestant religion.
The Act of Settlement 1701 went even further limiting the succession to the heirs of the body ofSophia of Hanover, provided that they do not "profess the Popish religion", "marry a Papist", "be reconciled to or ... hold Communion with the See or Church of Rome".
A Roman Catholic heir can therefore only inherit the throne by changing religious allegiance. Ever since thePapacy recognised theHanoverian dynasty in January 1766, none of the immediate royal heirs has been a Roman Catholic, and thereby disallowed by the act. Many more distantly related potential Roman Catholic heirs are listed on theline of succession to the British throne. Section 2 of theSuccession to the Crown Act 2013, and similar provisions in the law of other signatories to thePerth Agreement, allow marriage by such an heir to a Roman Catholic.
InCanada, British since 1763, theQuebec Act 1774 ended some restrictions on Roman Catholics, so much so that it was called one of the "Intolerable Acts" and criticised in thePetition to the King submitted in October 1774 by theFirst Continental Congress of theThirteen Colonies.[2]
In Great Britain and, separately, in Ireland, the first Relief Act, called thePapists Act 1778, was passed; subject to an oath renouncingStuart claims to the throne and the civil jurisdiction of the pope, it allowed Roman Catholics to own property and to inherit land. Reaction against this led to riots inScotland in 1779 and then theGordon Riots in London on 2 June 1780.
Further relief was given by theRoman Catholic Relief Act 1781 (21 & 22 Geo. 3. c. 62 (I)) allowing the establishment of Roman Catholic schools andbishops. TheRoman Catholic Relief Act 1791 allowed the free practice of Catholicism subject to certain substantial restrictions designed to make Catholicism less visible in the communities where it was practiced. In Ireland, theRoman Catholic Relief Act 1793 was enacted by theIrish Parliament, extending the right to vote to Catholics. Since the electoralfranchise at the time was largely determined by property, this relief gave the votes to Roman Catholics holding land with a rental value of £2 a year. They also started to gain access to many middle-class professions from which they had been excluded, such as thelegal profession,grand jurors,universities and the lower ranks of thearmy andjudiciary.
The issue of greater political emancipation was considered in 1800 at the time of theAct of Union between Great Britain and Ireland: it was not included in the text of the act because this would have led to greater IrishProtestant opposition to the Union.Non-conformists also suffered from discrimination at this time.
William Pitt the Younger, thePrime Minister, had promised emancipation to accompany the act. No further steps were taken at that stage, in part because of the belief of KingGeorge III that it would violate hisCoronation Oath. Pitt resigned when the king's opposition became known, as he was unable to fulfil his pledge. Catholic emancipation then became a debating point rather than a major political issue.
The increasing number of Irish Catholics serving in the British army led to the army giving freedom of worship to Catholic soldiers in 1811.[3] Their contribution in theNapoleonic Wars may have contributed to the support ofArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (himself Irish-born, though Protestant) for emancipation.
In 1823,Daniel O'Connell started a campaign for emancipation by establishing theCatholic Association. In 1828, he stood for election inCounty Clare in Ireland andwas elected even though he could not take his seat in theHouse of Commons of the United Kingdom.
O'Connell's manoeuvres were important, but the decisive turning point came with the change in public opinion in Britain in favour of emancipation. Politicians understood the critical importance of public opinion. They were influenced as well by the strong support for the measure by the Whigs in theHouse of Lords and by the followers ofLord Grenville (1759–1834). The increasing strength of public opinion, as expressed in the newspapers and elections over a twenty-year period, overcame religious bias and deference to the crown, first in the House of Commons and then in the House of Lords. AsRobert Peel pointed out toGeorge IV in 1829, every House of Commons elected beginning in 1807 expressed majority support for Catholic emancipation, except that of 1818, which voted only once on the issue, in 1819, and rejected the motion by two votes.[4]
Despite this, the votes in the House of Lords were consistently negative, in part because of the King's own opposition. The balance of opinion in the House of Lords shifted abruptly in 1828–29 in response to public opinion and O'Connell's election, especially reflecting fear of a religious civil war in Ireland.[citation needed] TheSacramental Test Act 1828 removed the barrier that required certain public officials to be members of theestablished Church.
TheDuke of Wellington and SirRobert Peel changed positions to support theRoman Catholic Relief Act 1829. This act removed many of the remaining substantial restrictions on Roman Catholics throughout theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. However, at the same time the minimum property qualification for voters was increased, rising from a rental value of fortyshillings (£2) per annum to £10 per annum, substantially reducing the number of those entitled to vote.[5]
After 1832 the threshold was again lowered in successiveReform Acts. The major beneficiaries were the Roman Catholic middle classes, who could now enter careers in the higher civil service and in the judiciary.O'Connell was then re-elected and took his seat in Westminster. The year 1829 is therefore generally regarded as marking the chief moment of emancipation in Britain and Ireland.[6]
The obligation, however, to paytithes to the establishedAnglican church in Ireland remained, resulting in theTithe War of the 1830s, and many other minor disabilities remained. A series of further reforms were introduced over time.
The slowness of liberal reform between 1771 and 1829 led to much bitterness in Ireland, which underpinnedIrish nationalism. Fresh from his success in 1829, O'Connell launched hisRepeal Association in the 1830s and 1840s, hoping but failing to repeal theActs of Union 1800.
In 1926 the last but one of the disabilities were removed from the statute book—the exception was that Catholics could not be king or queen. This came through the initiative of MPFrancis Blundell.[7] by means of theRoman Catholic Relief Act 1926.[8][9]
House of Commons (Removal of Clergy Disqualification) Act 2001 removed clergy disqualification to sit in theHouse of Commons.
Succession to the Crown Act 2013 ended disqualification of a person who married aRoman Catholic from succession.[10]
Church of Scotland (Lord High Commissioner) Act 2025 made Roman Catholics eligible to hold the office ofHigh Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Thepersecution of Huguenots under Louis XV had diminished by 1764. Thedechristianisation ofFrance in 1790–1801, theanti-CatholicKulturkampf in Germany in the 1870s and the progress ofJewish emancipation present interesting comparisons of toleration at the European level. Protestant sentiments in Ireland, on the other hand, were greatly alarmed by the possibility of Roman Catholicpolitical influence onfuture governments, which brought about equally long-lasting bitter resistance by theOrange Order, alleging that "Home Rule wasRome Rule". Liberal rights came slowly to thePapal States as well, and well-publicised cases such as theMortara affair were a concern to liberals in America and Europe in the 1860s.
Roman Catholics inQuebec had a grandfathered level of religious freedom, including the ability to serve in that colony's legislative body without having to take aTest Oath denouncing their faith. This policy continued in both successor provinces ofLower Canada andUpper Canada. The prohibitions and restrictions on Catholic participation in legislative affairs elsewhere in British North America applied until 1823, whenLaurence Kavanagh was seated in theNova Scotia House of Assembly as the first representative ofCape Breton Island and the first English-speaking Roman Catholic to serve in a legislature in the Atlantic provinces.
The granting of Roman Catholic emancipation inNewfoundland was less straightforward than it was in Ireland, and this question had a significant influence on the wider struggle for a legislature. Almost from its first settlement, Newfoundland had a significant population of Roman Catholics, largely becauseGeorge Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, was the founding proprietor of theProvince of Avalon on Newfoundland'sAvalon Peninsula. After Calvert himself converted to Roman Catholicism in 1625, he migrated to Avalon, intending his colony there to serve as a refuge for his persecuted fellow-religionists.[11]
Newfoundland, like Calvert's other colony in theProvince of Maryland, ultimately passed out of the Calvert family's control, and its Roman Catholic population became subject to essentially the same religious restrictions that applied in other areas under British control. In the period from 1770 to 1800, the governors of Newfoundland began to relax restrictions on Roman Catholics, permitting the establishment of French and Irish missions. On visitingSt. John's in 1786, Prince William Henry (the future KingWilliam IV) noted that "there are ten Roman Catholics to one Protestant",[12] and the Prince worked to counter the early relaxations of ordinances against this substantial majority.[13]
News of emancipation reached Newfoundland in May 1829, and 21 May was declared a day of celebration. In St. John's there was a parade and a thanksgiving Mass was celebrated at the Chapel, attended by theBenevolent Irish Society and the Catholic-dominated Mechanics' Society. Vessels in the harbour flew flags and discharged guns in salute.
Most people assumed that Roman Catholics would pass unhindered into the ranks of public office and enjoy equality with Protestants. But on 17 December 1829, the attorney general and supreme court justices decided that the Roman Catholic Relief Act did not apply to Newfoundland, because the laws repealed by the act had never applied there, being acolony and not part of theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. As each governor's commission had been granted by royal prerogative and not by the statute laws of the British Parliament, Newfoundland had no choice but to be left with whatever existing local regulations discriminated against Roman Catholics.
On 28 December 1829, the St. John's Roman Catholic Chapel was packed with an emancipation meeting, where petitions were sent from O'Connell to the British Parliament, asking for full rights for Newfoundland Roman Catholics asBritish subjects. More than any previous event or regulation, the failure of the British government to grant emancipation renewed the strident claims by Newfoundland Reformers for a colonial legislature. There was no immediate reaction from London, but the question of Newfoundland was now before the BritishColonial Office. It was not until May 1832 that the BritishSecretary of State for the Colonies formally stated that a new commission would be issued to GovernorThomas John Cochrane to remove any and allRoman Catholic disabilities in Newfoundland.[14]
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