Vatican newspaper praises French Protestant John Calvin

The Vatican newspaper Friday praised influential French Protestant John Calvin, a critic of the Roman Catholic Church, hailing him an "extraordinary" figure.

The Osservatore Romano, on the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth, said it recognised the theologian as a Christian who had a major impact on European life.

"Considering the strength of arguments against him, we think it necessary to point out that Calvin is a Christian," the daily paper said of the man who played a major role in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

The paper ranked Calvin alongside 18th century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau for his influence on modern European life.

The pair were the "only two men who influenced some Europeans to change course and were strong enough to lead them in a new direction," it wrote.

The "mark left by the reformer was deep," the Osservatore Romano continued, praising Calvinism as a "ingenious creation" which resisted "all the changes or revolutions of modern life."

Calvin, who lived in the 16th century, broke with the Roman Catholic Church and became one of its most ardent critics and helped the Reformation to take root across Europe.

He was a contemporary of the father of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther.

Calvin's major work is The Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536) which advocates a strict form of Protestantism.