Popery

Papist is a sectarian term referring to "Roman Catholics". It was coined during the English Reformation to indicate one who believed in Papal primacy over all Christians and was popular Anglican slur. The word ultimately derives from Latin papa, meaning "Pope". "Popish" is an adjective used much in the same vein.

In contemporary speech, some hearers may take offense at it. The word was in common use until the mid-nineteenth century; it occurs frequently in Macaulay's History of England from the Accession of James II, and in other historical or controversial works from that period. It is also a legal term that defines ineligibility for the throne under the current law of the United Kingdom. Under the Act of Settlement enacted in 1701 and still in force, no one who professes "the popish religion" or marries "a papist" may succeed to the throne of the United Kingdom. Catholics were generally believed to be Anti-Protestant due to the suppression of the Catholic Church in England during the reign of Henry VIII and the subsequent persecution of Protestants during the reign of the Roman Catholic Mary I of England.

Modern day usage of the term is genally confined to loyalists in Northern Ireland, including politicians such as Ian Paisley.

A derivative pejorative term Apist is used to describe Anglo-Catholics who ape or copy the practices of the Roman Catholics.

See also