Souperism

It blemished the relief work by Protestants who gave aid without proselytising, and the rumour of souperism may have discouraged starving Catholics from attending soup kitchens for fear of betraying their faith.

[8] However, souperism was rarely that simple, and not all non-Catholics made being subject to proselytisation a condition of food aid.

[clarification needed][1][9][10] Souperist practices, reported at the time, included serving meat soups on Fridays – which Catholics were forbidden by their faith from consuming.

Both Bowen and Whelan (listed in Further reading) note that the fear of souperism was very real, and state that the practice did indeed occur.

The popular myth that the few souperists engendered has largely eclipsed the impartial philanthropic aid that was given by genuinely altruistic organisations at the time.

The reasons for the disorganised and duplicated efforts were not solely sectarian, and can also be attributed to a general unwillingness amongst charities to co-operate with one another.