Was Maryland founded as a place where Catholics could practice their religion freely?

According to Catholic Answers, On March 25, 1634, two small ships, the Ark and the Dove, landed at St. Clement's Island in southern Maryland. Beyond that, Catholics settled all throughout Maryland, but were always in the minority and the Puritans that were in the majority both in Maryland and Virginia were vehemently anti-Catholic, they left the Anglican Church because they considered it too Catholic, so Catholics were soon disenfranchised and harassed, burned out.