April 24: Today in Christian History

April 24, 858

Election and consecration of Pope Nicholas I. He will demonstrate integrity, iron will, faith, and masterful defenses of marriage and the papacy, becoming one of the strongest medieval popes. He will support missions, exercise authority over remote churches and communicate Christian doctrine to Bulgaria. King Lothair II of Lotharingia (a portion of Charlemagne’s former empire) will advance against Nicholas with an army and pin him in St. Peters for two days without food after the pope demands he return to his lawful wife.

April 24, 1585

Pope Sixtus V is elected. He administers stern justice, clearing the countryside of brigands that have flourished under his predecessors. He also founds the Vatican library and various colleges.

April 24, 1603

Death in Paris of James Beaton, archbishop of Glasgow. A Roman Catholic, he had left Scotland during the Reformation but was employed as ambassador to France by the Scottish monarchs. The Scottish parliament, although Protestant, held him in such high esteem that before his death they restored all his honors and dignities.

April 24, 1625

Jean de Brebeuf sails for New France, where he will be one of the longest lasting Jesuit priests before his martyrdom in his early fifties.

April 24, 1844

Death in Mosul of Asahel Grant, pioneer missionary to Persia.

April 24, 1901

In a spirit of brotherly cooperation, Protestant missionaries in the Philippines gather for a three day conference to form an evangelical union to advance the gospel in the islands.

April 24, 1915

More than two hundred and fifty prominent Armenians—civic and political leaders, teachers, writers, and members of the clergy—are rounded up and imprisoned. Many will be tortured and killed, the beginning of the Turkish effort to eliminate all Armenian Christians. The day will be remembered by Armenians and others as Armenian Genocide Day.

April 24, 2011

Courageous Chinese Christians, stripped of their churches, meet in the Zhongguancun public square in Beijing to hold Easter worship services. Hundreds are detained and their worship leaders and pastors are jailed.