In 1865 Pope Pio Nono issued the Syllabus of Errors. This condemned as heretical the beliefs that:
- Catholic countries could tolerate other religions
- any form of Protestantism could be a legitimate form of Christianity and
- freedom of opinion was valuable.
The Syllabus of Errors thus ran counter to recent Victorian political, intellectual, and social developments - - the growth of religious toleration, including increasing rights for Catholics, and increasingly open debate on a wide range of sensitive issues, most significantly, evolution.
Last modified 1992; links last added 17 March 2000; image added 1 November 2001