May 26: The Puritans' Conundrum

Welcome to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Today is May 26th, and our story is The Puritan's Conundrum. It's never a good idea to get on a Puritan's bad side. Just ask the Jesuits, who in 1647 found themselves evicted from the Massachusetts Bay Colony on penalty of death. The Puritans, of course, had their reasons. They took matters of religion quite seriously. And, as far as they were concerned, the Jesuits were a threat to the eternal salvation of everyone in their colony.

The Catholic missionaries not only believed doctrines that the Puritans saw as heretical, such as the real presence, but they preached those doctrines well. The natives were converting to Catholicism at alarming rates, as were English men and women captured by the natives.

The Puritans also saw the Jesuits as a political threat. In the century after the Anglican Church separated from the Catholic Church, rumors of malicious Popish plots to restore Catholicism ran rampant in England. Most Puritans believed that the Jesuits were dangerous emissaries of Rome and would stop at nothing to destroy the safe haven they'd built for themselves in the New World. Lastly, the Jesuits in and around the Massachusetts Bay Colony were French, and the Puritans, like most Englishmen, were none too fond of the French.

Clearly, something had to be done. In late 1646, as they considered the problem, a French ship arrived in Boston's harbor with two priests on board. The colony's governor invited the priests to dine at his house. Surprisingly, the rioting in the streets was minimal. Nevertheless, it moved the people to action. On May 26, 1647, the Massachusetts Bay Colony voted to ban all Jesuits from Massachusetts. They also swore to summarily execute anyone who defied the ban.

Their ban proved successful. No Jesuit ever was summarily executed, but the Puritans did manage to keep their colony almost 100% Catholic-free until sometime in the mid-18th century. Likewise, the practice of Catholicism, including attending or saying Mass, remained illegal in Massachusetts as late as 1772, and not a single priest permanently settled there until after the American Revolution. Today, pray for religious freedom and consider one way to support it locally or globally.

Thank you for listening to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Join us tomorrow, May 27th, for another story of faith and courage in America.