Fidelis of Sigmaringen was an unwelcome guest
[1566-1622]
On Monday, I told you about Maria Gabriella Sagheddu, who prayed fastidiously for unity among Christians. Today: a story where unity was in short supply.
In the early 1600s, Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Germany, traveled modern-day Austria and Switzerland preaching in sharp defiance of Calvinism, which had recently taken hold. In a nutshell, Calvinism purports to be the theology of the Bible alone, whereas Catholicism is the theology of the institutional church as it developed over millennia — that is, the Bible plus tradition.
Needless to say, Fidelis collected Christian enemies. During a service at a church in Seewis, a Calvinist shot at him with a musket. Fidelis wasn’t hurt, and he even continued preaching, but on the street afterward his skull was clove in with a sword, his body stabbed with long knives, and ultimately his left leg hacked off to punish him for entering the region.