ABSTRACT
John Carroll, in the first sermon he delivered to his congregation as Bishop of Baltimore, stated the fundamental position that American Catholics would take toward Protestants and their faith. Carroll expressed a desire for Catholics to live on good terms with their fellow Americans, even though many of them belonged to different Christian churches. The most thorough statement denying the religious validity of the Protestant faith came from Badin. Judge James Twyman, whom Badin converted to Catholicism, told the priest that the Protestants in Kentucky were so confused in their religious beliefs that a pious, judicious priest would reap a harvest of new converts to the true faith. The denial of religious truth to Protestantism was a sentiment shared by all Catholics. Some Catholics were inclined to doubt the religious integrity, sincerity and worth of those who belonged to heretical churches; while other Catholics were willing to admit, that despite their religion, Protestants were moral and good people.
