Conspiracy, prejudice, and popery: anti-Catholicism in England and Wales 1940−1960

Abstract

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, traditional criticisms of the Catholic Church in England and Wales were reformulated and rearticulated in the context of the rise and fall of totalitarianism and autocratic political regimes. Anti-Catholicism was expressed not only in fringe Protestant groups, but increasingly by those who criticized the Catholic Church and its followers from a secular perspective. Anti-Catholicism of the mid-twentieth century was less theological and grounded in historical stereotypes that were well established by this period. It was a prejudice that had long historical roots yet was repackaged to suit an era of war and global hostilities. The experiences and rhetoric of Mass Observation participants, in tandem with radical religious groups and letters to newspapers, are useful in showing the variety of anti-Catholic prejudice still present in mid-twentieth century England and Wales.