Geneva
This year marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, the Protestant reformer. The occasion will be celebrated with enthusiasm here in his adopted home of Geneva, which calls itself “Calvin’s city” to this day, and where municipal monuments identify it as “the city of refuge.” It was the birthplace of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and welcomed him back at one point in his turbulent life.

Calvin’s life and works are debated among Christians, since his influence produced repression in Geneva for no less than criticism of established religion. But the Genevois seem united in their affection for him, and hold him out as a model for others. A special issue of L’Hebdo, a local weekly, titled “A Man Named Calvin” and sold as a souvenir of the quincentenary, includes an introductory comment by its editor, Isabelle Falconnier: “To combat one’s enemies is one thing–it is another to rise up against one’s peers. There is no greater courage. When 1,500 Catholics march in Central Switzerland to protest against a decision of the Pope, that is what we see.” The latter comment referred to a March 2009 demonstration in Lucerne against the papal rehabilitation of four traditionalists, including a Holocaust denier. Falconnier continued, “When Muslims raise their voices against Islamist extremists, the same courage is present.”