Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791
| Act of Parliament | |
| Long title | An act to relieve, upon conditions, and under restrictions, the persons therein described, from certain penalties and disabilities to which papists, or persons professing the popish religion, are by law subject |
|---|---|
| Citation | 31 Geo. 3. c. 32 |
| Introduced by | William Pitt the Younger (Commons) |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 10 June 1791 |
| Commencement | 25 June 1791 |
| Repealed | 31 July 1978 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repeals/revokes | |
| Amended by | |
| Repealed by | Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1978 |
| Relates to | |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 (31 Geo. 3. c. 32) is an act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1791 which partially reduced discrimination against Roman Catholics and permitted them to more fully participate in public life, as part of the process of Catholic emancipation in Great Britain. It permitted Catholics to practise law, practise their religion, and establish Catholic schools, with significant restrictions.
Chapels, schools, officiating priests and teachers had to be registered, and children of Protestants were not permitted to attend. Catholics were not permitted to as assemblies with locked doors, and chapels could not have steeples or bells. Priests were not permitted to wear vestments or celebrate liturgies in the open air. Monastic orders and endowments of schools and colleges were prohibited.
Political sentiment for reform was helped along by the signing of the Edict of Versailles in France in 1787, which gave non-Catholic French subjects full legal status in a kingdom where Catholicism had always been the state religion.