On a warm spring day in Geneva, the tall stern figures of the four “fathers of the Protestant Reformation” – Jean Calvin, John Knox, Theodore de Bèze and William Farel – stare disapprovingly at picnickers in the Parc des Bastions that nestles under the walls of the old town.

The dislike appears to be mutual. As Geneva – “Calvin’s city” – and Protestants all over the world commemorate the 500th anniversary of Calvin’s birth, many ordinary Genevans do not see much to celebrate.