William of Orange had been a strong supporter of public as well as personal freedom of religion and hoped to unite Protestants and Catholics in the new union, and for him the Union was a defeat.

In 1791 the United Irish Society was founded by Wolfe Tone in an effort to unite Protestants and Catholics who were already beginning to rebel under the crush- ing English penal laws.

"I kind of do think he will try to unite Catholics," said Linda Nguyen, 20, an American student studying in Rome who had wrapped six rosaries around her hands.

The original goals of the organization were to unite Greek Catholics in America who spoke the Rusyn language; to provide insurance for its members; and to encourage education.

'Religious Union,' a sketch of a plan for uniting Roman Catholics and presbyterians with the established church, 1800.

In 1548, two years after the death of Martin Luther, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V tried to unite Catholics and Protestants in his realm with a law called the Augsburg Interim.

Its aim was to unite Catholics, both clergy and laity, in the warfare against intemperance; and thus to improve religious, social, and domestic conditions.

In Cochinchina, the Lê Văn Khôi revolt (1833-1835) united Vietnamese Catholics, missionaries and Chinese settlers in a major revolt against the ruling emperor, in which they were defeated.