From the October-December 2006 Issue
Great Expectations
Pietro and Teresa Lorefice
First of all, a big thank-you to all the Christians who read this article and pray with concern for the Lord’s work in this country. Tourism plays a big part in Italy’s economy, especially Roman Catholic tourism. Every year thousands and thousands of pilgrims come to Rome to see the Pope and the Holy See. This year the income from Catholic tourism was higher than ever. When you enter Italy by air or by car, at once your attention is drawn to some Catholic icon. Generally it is Mary, but Padre Pio is the second and in some cases is first, surpassing Mary. The use of all these images is like the ancient idolatrous people in the Old Testament. The Catholic Church has absorbed from ancient times this kind of idolatrous worship, and this seems to be one of the main contrasts between Bible truth and Roman Catholic error.
What the Bible says
The Bible says: “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven or on earth… You shall not bow down to them or worship them…” (Exodus 20:4). These words are taken from the second commandment that God gave to Moses, and Paul reminds Timothy: “There is one God and one man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men”.
The dark period in Italy
The Catholic religion with her heritage was the base from which all the people had their teaching and in which they put their trust. The Catholic teaching was very important to influence souls to see the Catholic Church as their guide from birth to death, and for this the Catholic Councils made rules (outside the Bible) about how to be a faithful Catholic.
Because of the configuration of the land, Italy was divided into seven counties, with the Catholic Church having a strong presence in the central part, which was expressed by the “Temporal power of the Pope”. This power was extended from Rome into the Emilia-Romagna. In this dominion the Pope was the sovereign and he was able to influence all the other dominions in Italy and, through his priests and nuns, the Catholic people also. The Inquisition, which in Italy was particularly strong, left a list of all the prohibited books, as written by the Catholic Council, and the Bible was among them. In all this the Bourbons, good Catholics, were ready to give attention to all the rules of the Roman Catholic church and the priests were free to teach the Catholic doctrine to their pupils. For centuries the teaching on the mediatorship was accepted by Catholics. Education in Italy was based on the Catholic teaching, not only in religion but in history too. The books were controlled and an imprimatur (approval) was on every book up until the last century.
A particular point of the Catholic power was to leave the people in ignorance. All the Catholic teaching was received by the people from the priest and not from a book, particularly not from the Bible. It was a security for the Pope to leave the people in ignorance and illiteracy. Indeed all the Catholic countries, including Italy, had a high percentage of illiteracy. But a strong link created over the centuries was and is the rule of the seven sacraments (baptism [infant baptism], confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, sacred orders, and marriage). By these means the people are linked strictly to the Catholic Church.
Let there be light
The “Italian Risorgimento” was a happy period for Italy. At least the Bible entered Rome with the troops. A small chariot drawn by a dog (named Pious IX, after the Pope of that time) entered Rome with a big consignment of Bibles printed abroad, and guided by a Waldensian colporteur. A branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society was founded in 1870 in a delivered Rome, and the Catholic temporal power was stopped. An illuminated mind said: “Italy is done. Now we have to form the Italian people”, because after the deliverance of the Italian people from the Papal power, the duty was to teach the people the simple truth of the Gospel.
The distribution of the Bible was one of the first ways of laying the foundation for the Evangelical Church in Italy. In the previous century colporteurs and pastors had started to preach the Gospel. Local churches came into existence, and since then the work of the Holy Spirit continues to reach souls, and convince and convert people to the pure and simple truth of the Gospel.
Great expectations
As for us, the Lord showed us from the beginning of our ministry the special place of the local Church. In contrast to the big organisation that is the Catholic system, the Bible gives us clear teaching about the local church. “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matt. 18:20). Through preaching, literature, conferences, the Lord has given to the souls that once were under Catholic dominion, freedom to believe the clear sound of the Gospel. We give thanks to God for the EMF; since 1960 it has been in Italy to help missionaries with prayer and material help. As people of the second generation, we too became part of the fellowship of the EMF and through the years we have seen clear confirmation of our call to the ministry. The vision for Italy was clear to us, to reach people with the Gospel, from the local churches to others.
The Lord gave us the concern to organize an Association among those churches (ACERI), and during the years we have seen the necessity and the usefulness of this Association. From the North to the South we have seen local churches coming together – in Piedmont, Puglia, Calabria, and Sicily too. And we have good hope of seeing this also in Campania and Veneto. ACERI has as a motto: “Fellowship and service”. We serve those churches with good Christian books, and with mini conferences to teach the sound doctrine of the Gospel. Once a year we have a general Assembly, with fine preachers and good fellowship around the Word of God. We feel the time is coming for great expectations. Our books are in all the Evangelical bookstores. People from the North and from the South are asking for spiritual help. The Lord’s work is growing. Let the light come for Italy too. Dear readers, we thank you for your attention in reading this news and for praying regularly for us.