This week in Christian history: first black Catholic bishop; Indian evangelist; England bans Christmas

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Twitter

England bans Christmas, Easter – June 8, 1647

Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), Puritan military leader and statesman who served as Lord Protector of England following the English Civil War.
Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), Puritan military leader and statesman who served as Lord Protector of England following the English Civil War. | (Photo: Public Domain)

This week marks the anniversary of when a Puritan-controlled British Parliament passed an ordinance banning Christmas, Easter, and other holidays.

Titled “An Ordinance for Abolishing of Festivals,” the measure came in response the Puritan belief that such holidays were unbiblical and that such observances led well documented raucous celebrations.

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“Be it Ordained, by the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled, That the said Feast of the Nativity of Christ, Easter and Whitsuntide, and all other Festival dayes, commonly called Holy-dayes, be no longer observed as Festivals or Holy-dayes within this Kingdome of England and Dominion of Wales,” stated the law.

The ban on Christmas celebration in England was eventually overturned when the monarchy returned to power later in the seventeenth century.

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