A 51-day FBI siege of the Mount Carmel Center (above), a hilltop compound near Waco, Texas, belonging to a religious sect, the Branch Davidians, ended today in 1993 when fire broke out and burned the buildings to the ground. The sect was suspected of building an arsenal of illegal weapons in preparation for the apocalypse, and their leader, David Koresh, was accused of child abuse and polygamy. In the final conflagration, 76 members of the sect died, 25 of them children.
St Alphege became the first Archbishop of Canterbury to be murdered, today in 1012. Captured by the Vikings when they sacked Canterbury, he refused to let anyone give his captors money in return for his freedom, and so was killed by them at their camp in Greenwich. He was made a saint later in the same century.
Today in 1529, six German princes protested to the Emperor, and the term ‘Protestant’ came into being. The Emperor, Charles V, had decided to reverse an earlier decision, where the teachings of Martin Luther had been tolerated, and replace it with a clampdown on his heresies. The six princes, who had backed Luther, along with 14 imperial free cities, issued their Letter of Protestation, which was a big moment, considering the power and determination of the Emperor. The letter marks the birth of the Protestant movement, as well as a rebuff to autocratic power.
‘We protest by these presents, before God, our only Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Saviour, and who will one day be our Judge, as well as before all men and all creatures, that we, for us and for our people, neither consent nor adhere in any manner whatsoever to the proposed decree, in anything that is contrary to God, to his holy Word, to our right conscience, and to the salvation of our souls.’ Protest at Speyer
Today in 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected to become Pope, on the fourth ballot of his fellow cardinals. Waiting to hear whether he had been chosen, he later recalled, ‘I prayed to God, “Please don’t do this to me,” but he didn’t listen to me.’ But then all Popes claim they never wanted the job. He took the name Benedict XVI.
Image: FBI