This week in Christian history: England tolerates Protestants, Edict of Worms, Archbishop of Canterbury

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, May 24, 2020

England enacts toleration for Protestant groups – May 24, 1689

The Canterbury Cathedral is the seat of the Cathedral of the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of All England and religious leader of the Church of England. | (PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/HANS MUSIL)

This week marks the anniversary of when England’s Parliament passed a law that allowed for the religious toleration of “Nonconformist” Protestant sects like the Baptists and Congregationalists.

Known as the Toleration Act, the measure allowed the once persecuted religious minorities to have the right to their own worship spaces, preachers, and educators.

However, the act did not apply to Roman Catholics and still included limits, such as barring Nonconformists from holding public office.

“The Toleration Act demonstrated that the idea of a ‘comprehensive’ Church of England had been abandoned and that hope lay only in toleration of division,” noted Britannica.