St Vincent Seminary - Symposium Yearbook (Latrobe, PA)

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.mnulnmu 2 : : E ,lllls , - mumlmr: ' XX ' I 7 7 7 7 7 ! X destroyed and churches filled with new clergymen performing strange rites The faithful naturally could not participate in this The Mass was and IS the only divine worship to be offered by duly ordained priests Being thus deprived of the use of their churches Catholics were compelled to hear Mass secretly. - Elizabeth intended to crush them and to force them into the Church established by her Parliament. Although her penal laws were most bloody they nevertheless, failed to sway the major portion of the Catholic population. Defense of the Pope's juris- diction brought a heavy fine. A second offense meant death. Elizabeth not content enacted new laws making it treason to declare her a heretic to use any document from the Pope, or to give or receive absolution. Any Catholic Heeing England to evade the law and failing to return within six months suffered confiscation of his property. These laws were soon enforced, whereupon the gallows took their deadly toll. Conditions being such, eminent Catholics began exercising their inliuence at the Royal Court of Elizabeth, and later of James I, toward procuring a refuge for their oppressed brethren. Although valiant efforts were exerted by others, it remained for the Calverts to bring about the success of such a project. Sir George Calvert was Secretary of State under James I. Although not as yet a Catholic, nevertheless, he studied religious affairs seriously. The Separatists, Puritans, and Presbyterians were proselytizing a large body of dissenters from among the ignorant classes. In the Puritan school he perceived only a men- ace to both civil and ecclesiastical governmentg while in the Anglican denomination he recognized a feeble effort to retrieve a wrong step. He decided, therefore, to enter the Ancient Church. Consequently, in 1624, having resigned as Secretary of State, Cfor the law tolerated no Catholic to fill any public oflicej, he embraced the Catholic faith. King James however created him Baron of Baltimore Ireland for his long and excellent service Evidently anticipating his entrance into the Church Calvert obtained a charter for the province of Avalon in Newfoundland making him Lord Proprietor He intended to make Avalon his residence and above all to establish here a refuge for oppressed Catholics Accompanied by his little flock of colonists Lord Baltimore set out from England and arrived at Ferryland July 23 1627 Unfortunately however this settlement proved un successful failure being caused by the severity of the weather and the depredation of the neighboring French Lord Baltimore consequently decided to seek a more favor ZS k..f ill L alll - K-4. 1 M 'PB llllllllllllllll .llls l 0 , , n ! ! ' , i , ' v . . 7 v ' . ' 1 r ,' I . Huillllllllll ff- . I 3 . ' . E : ' A A x 1, . P - . . .E ' , , ' ' ' ,lg ' ' g,M,, - :mumn H2511 -

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Eli! slnul Jllll Ill MII ' . EQ' 1 1 sm in llflll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 . ' 1 . . . . X 1 I Emu v- 4 fi' w w-2 . . v M... gamma! i HT:-xxx if III ii , NNI X ml C g-,, and Maine were barred because their people differed in religious matters from the members of the Confederacy. Thus we see continued that same intolerant spirit that overshadowed the Puritans from the very beginning of their colonization, a spirit that could but spread only dissension and ill-will among all concerned. The religious sentiment of the Puritan colonists imparted a peculiar character to their institutions. Religion was with them an affair of state and it was a paramount duty of the civil magis- trate to preserve its purity. We have seen the effects of this principle in the controversy involving Anne Hutchinson. Quakers and Anabaptists now began to experience the bitter- ness of this prejudicial disposition. Clark, a Baptist, was fined for preaching, and Holmes was Hogged for his religious opinions. Mary Fisher and Anne Austin, members of the Society of Friends, were banished because their manner of worship did not harmonize with the tenets of the governing powers. A special law was subsequently passed prohibiting admission of Quakers into the Colony. This, nevertheless, did not deter them from entering. Another decree was then enacted banishing them under penalty of death. As a result, several were cruelly hanged. And so we see that the very men who had fled from England in search of an asylum of religious freedom, themselves now tol- erated absolutely no other belief save their own When oppressed themselves, they exclaimed against indiscriminate toleratlong but when they became masters of the land they applied the same persecutions against the adherents of other faiths, which they themselves suffered at home. They contradicted their own principle by maintaining that human beings might and ought to punish what God alone could correct and alter. Truly, the very atmosphere in this Puritanical New England was saturated with un-Christian sentiments, prejudice and bigotry: forces that could breed nothing but dissension and contempt for authority What a distinct contrast there was between this Colony and the one we are about to consider: Catholic Maryland The Catholics in England, like the Purltans, were not immune from persecution. Although their faith was impaired somewhat by the revolt of Henry VIII against the Holy See and the estab- lishment of the Calvmistic Church in the Kingdom by the re- gents of Edward VI it nevertheless, could not be totally under- mined Moreover dreadful persecutions were directed against them in the hope of bringing this about. Under Elizabeth, the Mass was abolished the oath of supremacy reenacted, images A- Q ii ll24ll :Ill I Ill: Ellli illlllli ll llllllllllllb Ill: :lllllllllllllll

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--- mmummr eau 5 3 . . . . . I , . . 1 . . . . r . . . . 0 1 .. Y ,f'X li III Q Ill gl able location With this purpose in mind he visited Virginia, in October 1629 The acting governor, however, of that province John Pott and other officials, including Clayborne, immediately demanded that he take the Oath of Supremacy. Truly, this de- mand was outside the realm of their authority. Calvert, indeed never expected such bigotry and hostility. Before leaving New- foundland he wrote to King Charles I for a grant of land in Virginia there to enjoy the same privileges as at Avalon. He was interested in Virginia and evidently was striving to build up that Colony. The attitude of the Virginia officials clearly in- dicated that it would be impossible for Catholics to live in peace there He therefore decided to seek another province. Returning to England he applied to the King for a new grant. His wish was fulfilled Charles I bestowing on him a new charter for territory south of Virginia. Clayborne was secretary of that Province and prejudicially said it was dangerous for Virginia to have Catholic subjects, but that this danger was trivial compared to having a colony controlled by Catholics at the very border. Due to this vehement remonstrance the recently-granted charter was revoked. Lord Baltimore thereupon asked for territory to the northward. His wish was again granted and he gained posses- sion of the land north of the Potomac to the fortieth degree, together with a portion of the eastern shore of the Chesapeake, lying opposite and extending to the ocean. This was called Mary- land in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria. This charter for Maryland clearly demonstrated Lord Bal- timore's long experience and his political wisdom The King even renounced for himself and his successors the right to impose any tax on the people of Maryland. Calvert deserves to be ranked among the wise and benevolent lawgivers of all ages He was the first in the history of the Christian world to seek for religious security and peace by the practice of justice and not by the exercise of power' to plan the establishment of popular institutions with the enjoyment of liberty of conscience to ad- vance the career of civilization by recognizing the rightful equality of all Christian sects. Before the charter passed the Great Seal of England Lord Baltimore died April 5th 1632. His son Cecil hon ever obtained the same concession and proceeded, to carry out his fathers plans chief of which were to convert not extirpate the natives and to send the sober not the lewd as settlers looking not to the present but the future expectation. Bancroft History of the U. S. fia iliilillllllll : : - 'J .. gillllllillll 7 7 EIIII ' ' alll slim- gllilll . . I 5 . . . . Y Y . . . ,, ,K 7 7 I 7 K Y , . . , . H . 7 Y Y 9 7 5 Y 34 C ll' Y . tllllllllllllll: I-5 gmnmun I 5 - . .. - . - :llls 'Ill - . - 5-mm-.mi ' ' :mummu Ns! izep