BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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The greatest resistance within religious circles came, not
surprisingly, from Catholic circles.
It reached its apex in March of
1886 when Bishop Bragshaw of Nottingham refused absolution to members
of his diocese who joined the League.
A bishop in the adjoining
district took an opposing stand, encouraging local
parishioners to join
Habitations. 72
The mattter was sufficiently controversial
to prompt Cardinal
Manning to publish a letter in The Times on 22 March 1886 stating that
the existing declaration of the League was not in violation of the
Catholic faith.
The decision was affirmed the following week by the
Pope, who decided in favor of the League.
The verdict of the Pope was
generally hailed as a victory for the Conservative cause.
In his
capacity as newspaper baron, Ashmead Bartlett went further, arguing in
England that the Pope should proceed to the next logical step:
condemning the tactics of the Nationalist League. 73
While addressing the Grand Habitation in May of 1886, Salisbury
took full advantage in exploiting the verdict of the recent Nottingham
controversy, extolling the virtues of the League and its pursuit of a
united religious community.
Congratulating the League on having
managed to avoid "another dangerous rock," he cautioned them against
applying religion in a narrow sense to any one form of Christianity.
You know what has taken place in the Roman Catholic
diocese of Nottingham. I need not allude to that more
specifically, except to show that in the judgment of
72
The Times, 18 March 1886, p. 4.
73
The Times, 22 March 1886, p. 9. St. James Gazette, 29
March 1886, p. 8. England, 27 March 1886, p. 7; 3 April 1886, p. 7.