The word was in common use until the mid-nineteenth century, as shown by its frequent appearance in Macaulay's History of England from the Accession of James II and in other historical or controversial works of that period. It also appeared frequently in the compound form "Crypto-Papist".

The word is found in certain surviving statutes of the United Kingdom, for example in the English Bill of Rights of 1688 and the Scottish Claim of Right of 1689. Under the Act of Settlement enacted in 1701, no one who professes "the popish religion" or marries "a papist" may succeed to the throne of the United Kingdom. Fears that Catholic secular leaders would be anti-Protestant arose during the suppression of the Catholic Church in England during the reign of Henry VIII and the subsequent persecution of Protestants during the reign of the Catholic Mary I of England.

A similar term, "papalism", is sometimes used.

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) author of Gulliver's Travels, frequently uses the term in his satirical work A Modest Proposal in which he proposes selling Irish children to be eaten by wealthy English landlords.

During the 1928 US presidential election, Democratic Party nominee Al Smith was accused of being a papist. He was the first Catholic to ever receive presidential nomination from a major party and this led to fears that, if he were elected, the United States would be ruled by the Vatican. So far, only in 1961, with the election of John F. Kennedy, has a Catholic become United States President.

Although the term is not as common today as in the past, some continue to use it.

There is a recent case of a Roman Catholic who uses the term as a self-identifying label by which to show support for and fidelity to the pope.