NONCONFORMISTS. - During the reign of Elizabeth of England (1558-1603), the name of nonconformists was given to those who had not conformed to the doctrine and ritual practice of the Anglican Church. At first it was applied to the Puritans, then it was extended to the Independents and Congregationalists, and at present all those who dissent (v. DISSENTIENTS) from the official Church of England are included under this name (e.g., Baptists, Methodists, Adventists). Catholics, on the other hand, were rather called by the disparaging name of papists and sometimes, in more recent times, by the more exact name of Roman Catholics. But in a stricter sense, the name of nonconformists was given to Presbyterian and Independent ministers who, having received ecclesiastical benefices and offices during the English Revolution (1643-60), refused to conform to the new decrees for the restoration of the Anglican Church and were subjected to very severe laws.
Between 1643 and 1660, the period of the triumph of the Puritans and Independents, enemies of the episcopal system and Anglican doctrines, the bishops and ministers of the Anglican Church were driven from their sees and replaced by Puritan ministers. When the monarchy and the official Church were restored in 1660, Parliament decreed (25 Dec. 1660) that the Anglican ministers driven out by the revolution should be restored to their offices and benefices; and by another decree of Aug. 1662, known as the Act of Uniformity, all ministers were required to accept the doctrines of the Book of Common Prayer (v. BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER), conform to its liturgy, and
non expedit
achieved, and a great step had been taken towards rapprochement. Pius X, without deviating from this line, prepared an easy path for his successor Benedict XV, who in 1919, by allowing all Catholics to enter the new Popular Party (v.), implicitly revoked the *non expedit*.