istoryworld
Events relating to religion
US novelist Mary McCarthy describes the religious pressures she grew up with in Memories of a Catholic Girlhood
Angelo Roncalli is elected pope and takes the name John XXIII
Pope John XXIII summons a second Vatican Council
The Dalai Lama escapes from Tibet to India after the Chinese suppression of an armed uprising costing thousands of Buddhist lives
Neo-Pentecostalism, also known as Charismatic Renewal, becomes an important element within many Christian denominations
Ruhollah Khomeini, a leading ayatollah in Qom, denounces the Shah of Iran and declares a fatwa against his regime
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican begins, 94 years after the start of the First Vatican Council under Pius IX
Pope John XXIII dies, only a few month's after the start of the great Vatican council that he has summoned
Italian cardinal Giovanni Montini is elected pope and takes the name Paul VI
Ayatollah Khomeini is arrested in Qom, and imprisoned for eight months in Tehran, after instigating riots against the Shah
Black activist and convert to Islam Malcolm X is assassinated when giving a speech in the Audubon Ballroom in New York
The Second Vatican Council ends, having made some radical changes in the ritual and attitudes of the Roman Catholic church
Pope Paul VI issues the encyclical Humanae Vitae, condemning all methods of artificial birth control
Catholic bishops in Latin America, plagued by oppressive regimes, develop the concept of liberation theology
Italian cardinal Albino Luciani is elected pope and takes the name John Paul I
Pope John Paul I dies, after a pontificate of only 33 days
Polish cardinal Karol Wojtyla is elected pope and takes the name John Paul II
Demonstrations take place throughout Iran, demanding Islamic rule under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini
An Islamic revolution forces the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to flee from Iran
Ayatollah Khomeini receives a rapturous welcome on his return to Iran to head the Islamic Revolutionary Committee
Communist measures in Afghanistan provoke a Muslim jihad and the murder of more than 100 Russians in Herat
John Paul II makes an emotional and influential return to Poland, the country of his birth
Supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini seize the US embassy in Tehran, taking hostage 66 US citizens
Archbishop Oscar Romero, an exponent of liberation theology, is killed as he celebrates Mass in San Salvador
Muslim terrorists assassinate Anwar el-Sadat, in response to his peace agreement with Israel
