Editing Catholic emancipation (section)

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}{{Short description|Reduction in anti-Catholicism laws}}
{{Use British English|date = February 2019}}
{{History of Christianity in the British Isles}}
'''Catholic emancipation''' or '''Catholic relief''' was a process in the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]], and later the combined [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on [[Roman Catholic]]s introduced by the [[Act of Uniformity 1662|Act of Uniformity]], the [[Test Act]]s and the [[Penal Laws (Ireland)|penal laws]]. Requirements to [[Abjuration|abjure]] (renounce) the temporal and spiritual authority of the [[pope]] and [[transubstantiation]] placed major burdens on Roman Catholics.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

The penal laws started to be dismantled from 1766. The most significant measure was the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829]], which removed the most substantial restrictions on [[Roman Catholicism in the United Kingdom]].

The [[Act of Settlement 1701]] and the [[Bill of Rights 1689]] provisions on the monarchy still require the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|monarch 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 farther limiting the succession to the heirs of the body of [[Sophia of Hanover]], provided that they do not "profess the Popish religion", "marry a Papist", "be reconciled to or&nbsp;... 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 the [[Papacy]] recognised the [[House of Hanover|Hanoverian 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 the [[line of succession to the British throne]]. Section 2 of the [[Succession to the Crown Act 2013]], and similar provisions in the law of other signatories to the [[Perth Agreement]], allow marriage by such an heir to a Roman Catholic.