- Feb 5, 2002
- 166,341
- 56,054
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
ZURICH — Felix Manz died here in a watery grave.
He was drowned as punishment for his stubborn refusal to recant a belief deemed heretical — that only repentant adult believers, not infants, should be baptized.
“Faith baptism … was something revolutionary at the time,” Olivier Cuendet, an evangelist for a Church of Christ in Switzerland’s largest city, said as he pointed to a plaque on the banks of the crystal-clear Limmat River. It commemorates Manz, who was cast into the icy water on Jan. 5, 1527, after he sang a full-throated rendition of Psalm 31: “Into thine hand I commit my spirit.”
Five centuries later, this hub of the Protestant Reformation — where minister Ulrich Zwingli condoned the eating of sausages during Lent in defiance of the Catholic Church — is losing its faith.
Less than half of Switzerland’s 8.7 million souls identify as Catholic or Protestant, according to government figures. In the short two decades since the plaque recognizing Manz and five other martyred Anabaptists was dedicated in 2004, the percentage of Swiss over age 15 claiming no religion jumped from 11.4 to 29.5.
Now the pristine church buildings that line the Limmat — Grossmünster, Fraumünster, Wasserkirche — are destinations for tourists, not pilgrims. The city’s true cathedrals house its financial institutions, its world-renowned banks and multinational corporations.
Continued below.
religionunplugged.com
He was drowned as punishment for his stubborn refusal to recant a belief deemed heretical — that only repentant adult believers, not infants, should be baptized.
“Faith baptism … was something revolutionary at the time,” Olivier Cuendet, an evangelist for a Church of Christ in Switzerland’s largest city, said as he pointed to a plaque on the banks of the crystal-clear Limmat River. It commemorates Manz, who was cast into the icy water on Jan. 5, 1527, after he sang a full-throated rendition of Psalm 31: “Into thine hand I commit my spirit.”
Five centuries later, this hub of the Protestant Reformation — where minister Ulrich Zwingli condoned the eating of sausages during Lent in defiance of the Catholic Church — is losing its faith.
Less than half of Switzerland’s 8.7 million souls identify as Catholic or Protestant, according to government figures. In the short two decades since the plaque recognizing Manz and five other martyred Anabaptists was dedicated in 2004, the percentage of Swiss over age 15 claiming no religion jumped from 11.4 to 29.5.
Now the pristine church buildings that line the Limmat — Grossmünster, Fraumünster, Wasserkirche — are destinations for tourists, not pilgrims. The city’s true cathedrals house its financial institutions, its world-renowned banks and multinational corporations.
Continued below.
Centuries After Serving As Protestant Hub, Largest Swiss City Is Losing Its Faith
Zurich, Switzerland, a hub of the Protestant Reformation — where minister Ulrich Zwingli condoned the eating of sausages during Lent in defiance of the Catholic Church — is losing its faith. Less than half of Switzerland’s 8.7 million souls identify as Catholic or Protestant, according to government
religionunplugged.com
