April 21: An Act of Toleration

Welcome to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Today is April 21st, and our story is An Act of Toleration. In 1634, when Catholic colonists arrived in Maryland, they thought they had found a home where they could freely practice their faith.

Fifteen years later, after briefly losing control of the colony to hardline Protestants, those same colonists realized just how easily that freedom could be taken from them. In an attempt to guard against that fate, they passed the Maryland Toleration Act on April 21, 1649. The act stated, For the more quiet and peaceable government of this province, and the better to preserve mutual love and amity amongst the inhabitants thereof, be it therefore also by the Lord Proprietary, with the advice and consent of this assembly, ordained and enacted.

That no person or persons whatsoever within this province, or the islands, ports, harbors, creeks, or havens thereunto belonging, professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth be any ways troubled, molested, or discountenanced for or in respect of his or her religion, nor in the free exercise thereof. Nor any way compelled to the belief or exercise of any other religion against his or her consent. In plain English, what the Act did was secure religious freedom for all Trinitarian Christians, Catholics included.

What the Act did not do was protect those who dissented from Christianity. It prescribed death by hanging for anyone who denied the Trinity or Christ's divinity. Nor did it tolerate blasphemy. Anyone who slandered the Virgin Mary or the apostles could receive a flogging, and those who lobbed religious insults at their neighbor, such as heretic, infidel, or popish priest, were liable for a hefty fine.

The Maryland Toleration Act remained in force until 1654, when Puritans again took control of the colony and declared the Toleration Act null and void. Four years later, Catholics returned to power, and the Colonial Assembly passed yet another version of the Toleration Act. This time, it remained the law of the land until 1692, when the colony's new Protestant legislature repealed it.

Religious freedom did not return to Maryland until the American Revolution began. This story reminds us that freedom of faith is both precious and fragile. Faith and freedom are intertwined. One cannot flourish without the other. Consider a current situation where religious freedom is at stake. How can you advocate or pray for protection of conscience and liberty?

Thank you for listening to the American Catholic Daily Reader Podcast. Join us tomorrow, April 22nd, for another story of faith and courage in America.