This week in Christian history: Council of Nicaea, Geneva embraces Reformation, missionary travels to Persia

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, May 16, 2021

Geneva adopts the Protestant Reformation – May 21, 1536

A view of the Reformation Wall with statues of William (Guillaume) Farel, John (Jean) Calvin, Theodore de Beze, and John Knox, from left to right, at Bastion Park in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, June 19, 2009. The commemorations of the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth has started in Geneva. Calvin was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. | AP / KEYSTONE / Salvatore Di Nolfi

This week marks the anniversary of when the leadership of Geneva, Switzerland, decided to cut ties with the Roman Catholic Church and embrace the Protestant Reformation.

Soon after making the decision, French-born Reformation leader John Calvin moved to the city, heavily influencing its religious and secular life and making it a “Protestant Rome.”

“Calvin led the Reformation in Geneva for decades, making his home in the city and preaching at St. Peter’s Cathedral. Calvin died here in 1564, but his legacy lives on,” noted the website Reformation Tours.

“Geneva became famous as a model of an ideal Protestant city, and reformers from all over Europe came to Geneva to learn from Calvin and his colleagues.”