This week in Christian history: Ethiopian Church leader killed, pope consecrated
Henry IV converts to Catholicism – July 25, 1593
This week marks the anniversary of when French King Henry IV, who was raised as a Protestant, officially converted to Roman Catholicism at St. Denis abbey, located near Paris.
As part of the ceremony, Henry IV walked to the church in a grand procession, and read a formal statement pledging his support for the Catholic Church and renunciation of heresy.
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“At the moment of Communion, the crowds outside saw a large flock of white doves soar above the abbey church, released from the St Denis belfry. The dove was the emblem of the Holy Spirit — God’s presence in the world — and of peace,” noted the Tudor Times.
“Early that morning in St Denis, before he dressed for the abjuration, the king received alone in his room a Huguenot minister called la Faye. He reassured his Protestant friend that he would never permit violence against the Huguenots.”
Henry was crowned king of France the following year and eventually would issue the Edict of Nantes, which provided religious freedom protections for the nation’s Protestant minority.
