On 13 February 1689, Parliament passed the Declaration of Right. In this declaration, it said that James, by trying to run away on 11 December 1688, had abandoned the government, so no one at the time was king. Normally, James's oldest son, James Francis Edward would have been the heir. However, Parliament offered the crown to William and Mary as joint Sovereigns instead. But it was added that "the sole and full exercise of the regal (royal) power be only in and executed by the said Prince of Orange in the names of the said Prince and Princess during their joint lives." The declaration was later extended to take out all Catholics. This was because "it hath been found (discovered) by experience that it is inconsistent (not in harmony) with the safety and welfare of this Protestant kingdom to be governed by a papist prince".