“The Church in Italy”—Jimmy Wood

“The Church in Italy”—Jimmy Wood

“THE CHURCH IN ITALY - Part One”
Lecture by J. R. Chisholm, February 23, 1950, at Abilene
Christian College (9:30 a. m.)
Note: Please see the Lecture On Italy at the end of this Lecture

It is indeed a happy privilege to be here this morning and to tell you about a little of the work that we have done in Italy. As I have listened during these past three days, I have been made to feel humble because of the many things that have been said, the need as it has been shown for the gospel in so many places, even in our own homeland. This, of course, does not keep us from recognizing the fact that the gospel is needed in many other places also. I also am aware of the fact that congregations of the church of Christ are fully capable to meet all of the challenges that have been issued here during these past few days. It is simply a matter of awakening Christians to the responsibility that Almighty God has placed upon them and I trust that we shall awake to that responsibility. We, of course, are concerned with the preaching of the gospel in Italy. It is not that we are unconcerned about the preaching of the gospel in other places, but since we are acquainted with the conditions as they are in Italy, naturally our first concern is there, insofar as the Crescent Hill Church of Christ is concerned. So we present the case of Italy to you this morning as one of the places where the gospel of the Lord is desperately needed. I shall try to tell you of some of the things that I saw, while I was in Italy and let Brother Wood tell you of the things that we have done in the United States during these past few months, and also about the needs of the work now. I realize also as I try to speak this morning concerning Italy that I cannot put the depth of feeling into my speech that was displayed by those who spoke yesterday; those that are native to particular fields, and have presented the cases of their people and their need of the gospel. I can’t do that. But we do want you to get a little insight of Italy, the people of Italy, and the need of the gospel in that country. Sometimes we become concerned over the question of whose soul is the most precious. Sometimes people, when trying to emphasize the need of their field, see fit to say that first of all we need to save our own people. I do not think that the gospel should be preached from that standpoint. I think that the soul of every man everywhere, the soul of any man anywhere 's just as precious in the sight of Almighty God as the soul of an American. I think that God feels that way about it. We have endeavored in the work that we are doing; we have tried to realize that Jesus wants us to carry the gospel into all the world, and as I said in the beginning, I feel the congregations of the church of Christ are fully cap* able of carrying out all of the work that has been set before them during these past few days. It is simply a matter of awakening them to the fact that they must do those things. As we think of the work that we have done, the question immediately arises as to the mistakes that have been made in the planning and in the carrying out of this work. As I stand here this morning, I am not trying to tell you that we haven’t made'mistakes. We will be the first to admit that we have made- mistakes. We know that we have made them; but we made them because we did not know the things that we knew at this particular time. I am constrained to believe that perhaps most everyone would have made some mistakes as they began such a work as this. And so we do not try to say that we haven't made mistakes, rather we admit that we have. How many mistakes |have we made? I don’t know how many mistakes we have made! but I expect that we are going to make still more as we go about trying to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They will not be intentional, we want to assure you of that; but we will make mistakes insofar as judgment is concerned, and we ask you to bear with us and advise us when you see that we are making mistakes in the work that we are carrying on in Italy.

It has been thirteen months now since we carried the work of the Lord into Italy; the group that is in Italy at this present time. Before we went into Italy in January of last year, almost two years of preparation had been put 'into getting ready for the work over there. I think that most of you are acquainted with the things that were done during those two years. How this work came about, of course, was because of the interest that was manifested by those that had been in Italy during the war. They came back and made their reports to the brethren in this country; they told them of the conditions as they viewed them in Italy from the standpoint of religion. It was amazing to these men to go into a nation of forty-six million people and to find there not one Christian with whom they could worship. It was amazing to them as they watched these people in their religious activities, as they bowed themselves down before the images that are provided for them by the Roman Catholic church. And when they returned, being as they were zealous Christians, they at once began to tell of those things, and asked for help to go into Italy and to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to the people. Be it known now that we were aware of the fact that when we went into Italy, we were going into a difficult field. We knew that we would be confronted with persecutions; we have never said that we didn’t know it. And we have not asked for sympathy from the standpoint that we are being persecuted in Italy. In fact, the persecutions were not mentioned for quite some time after they happened, because our brethren realized that they would be persecuted and they said that they were willing to bear these persecutions. In some of their letters to us they said, “We have not told you of many things that happened because we have found from reading our religious papers, that many Christians do not believe the things that we have to say; therefore it is useless for us to tell you all that has happened.” So we are not pleading for your consideration on the matter of persecution alone. Our plea is just the right to remain in Italy and to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we went into Italy, we went with the idea in mind that we were going to help people in every way that we could help them. In other words, when we entered Italy we entered as Christians, we were going to relieve suffering if we were able to do that. We were going to feed and care for orphans if we could do that. We wanted to do all that we could because Brother Paden and Brother Hatcher, as you remember, had been in Italy in November and December of 1947; and when they returned to us they made the report that there were a hundred thousand orphan children walking the streets of Italy. There were multiplied thousands, yea there were millions, that were without food and clothing in Italy. The condition of the people was "desperate. And so when we made our plans to go, we decided that here was an opportunity of living Christianity before these people. We wanted to do what we could; we were determined to do all that we could. We did not think that there would be any criticism offered to a work of relieving the suffering of humanity; and we did know that our Lord had so commanded us that “you shall feed those that are hungry, you shall clothe those that are naked, you shall visit those that are ill and are in prison.” This was the teaching of the Lord; and so we went with that idea in mind. Our primary purpose, of course, was the proclaiming of the word of God. Some said that it wasn’t; we say that it was, and it is now. We are there to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we also want to preach it to just as many people as we possibly can. We are not trying to buy the religion of anyone; we don’t want you to misunderstand that. That was not our purpose: to try to buy them into the church of our Lord, but we wanted if possible to attract their attention, to relieve their suffering, to cause them to recognize just what there is in Christianity. Then in proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to those people, we would be able to show by the living that we had done before them that: There is the way that God would have you to go. He wants you to obey the gospel that he has give us through his Son, and he wants you to live just such lives, recognizing the suffering of all people and helping as you can.

We began such a work as this on the fourteenth of January of last year. ' In these thirteen months that have gone by, we have seen the results that have come from such a work. We have taken a few orphans off of the streets of Italy. Our purpose was to get fifty orphans into Frascati Orphans' Home by the first of the year, if at all possible. We were not allowed to do that; and we don’t want you to believe that which you read in Time magazine, to the effect that the people in Frascati were unenthusiastic. That is not true. But we were told by the commissioner of police of Frascati in October of last year that we could not take any more boys into Frascati Orphans' Home. We pleaded with him through Brother Paden, asking him to relent and let us take these boys because we have empty beds. We have tables and food for these boys; let us take some, and he said, no. We have the signed order to that effect that you can see in our files in Brownfield. Yes, we were refused the right to do this, and as we read from the Vatican newspaper and the quotations that are given from the different officials of the Italian government, they say that there is no need of an orphanage in Frascati. And yet we find the pope as he makes his plea within the last few days, sending it all over the world saying, send us help for the orphans of Europe. There are a hundred thousand of them in Italy, but he said through the Italian government that they didn’t have any need for the help of the church of Christ. So we want you to understand that the response of the people of Frascati was not unenthusiastic. In fact, it was very enthusiastic. Brother Paden has in his desk in the office at Frascati, more than a hundred, in fact several hundred, •applications for entrance into Frascati Orphans’ Home. They want that which we are offering to them and they are denied it. But what have we done from other standpoints? Of course you have read in our religious papers that we have relieved much suffering. We have not at any time made it a necessary thing that they attend the classes that we are teaching in Frascati or in any other place, for them to obtain the help that we are offering, the clothing that we give them. In fact, we told them from the very beginning, “You owe us nothing. We are glad to help you. This is that which is sent by Christians in America, and they want us to give it to you, and we are giving it to you, and you don’t have to come to these classes to get it, but we will be happy if you will come. We would be glad to teach you the gospel of Christ.” We have always operated in that way. We go into their homes, we examine those homes, and the ones that have the greater need are given that which we have. Many times we have had to turn away from some because they had more than their neighbor, and so we could not help them at that time. We want to help those that have the greatest need. And we work from that standpoint. We have had them tell us as we went into their homes and questioned them, concerning their religion, and as we asked, “Will you come to our classes?” They say, “No, I am a Catholic;” and we have helped them anyway because they had a need for it. That has been the way that we’ve carried on that part of the program. Some ten to fifteen thousand people have been aided through that work during the first eleven months of 1949. But our primary purpose, as we said, was the preaching of the gospel.

* When you go into Italy, and walk up and down the roads of that country, and as you go into the cathedrals of the Catholic church, you can see the need of the gospel. You see the people as they offer their worship; hardly ever is that worship offered to Almighty God. In most instances it is offered to the madonna—to Mary. And in many instances it is offered to the patron saints of a certain town. In a letter recently received, and after this news of Italy broke in the United States, the point was made that Antonio was the saint of Monte Compatri. Someone wrote us from these United States and said, “I have never heard of Saint Antonio; I don’t believe there is such a person as that.” And in answering him I said that he needed to go to Italy and find out something about the saints. Every city has its samt and they look toward the blessing that the priest promises through the saint of that town and they will do anything within their power to obtain the blessing from the priest who supposedly has the powder to give it in the name of that saint. Y es, YOU need to go to Italy in order to realize just what Catholicism is. As we walk up and down the roads, and as we go every half mile, perhaps, we find an altar bu-'lt over here and an image of Mary. We find the people as they pass, pausing to kneel before the altar and before this unage, as they offer their adoration to her. As we look at the houses, you will see in the corner of every house an image of Mary, built as a part of tne house. As you go into their public places of rest, over every bed you find an image of Mary hanging. That is the religion of Mary. It is a religion of Mary, and I say that you need to be there in order to know just what they are from the religious standpoint. As I went into a cathedral at Pompeii I was amazed as I look up into the gable of the temple to find that it was solidly covered with gold, gold nuggets that had been given to that church by giateful people who thought that some miracle had been performed—some help given them m the name of the church. With gold hanging there in the end of the gable of that cathedral, you could turn from it and look toward the street where you could see the children and the poor people by the hundreds, as they walked by the cathedral m their rags; many of them without enough food to eat. And then looking into the temple again, you see the richness of the thing. I was also in a cathedral in Naples and saw a woman as she stood before a life-like image of Mary and watched her as she stayed there for many minutes with the tears streaming down her face as she made her petition through this image of ^Mary. Yes, it is an amazing thing. I went into Saint Peter’s in Rome, also, and watched women and men as they walked before the statue of Peter. I saw one woman in particular, as she stroked the foot of Peter and as the tears flowed from her face as she was there making her petition through Peter. I say it’s a terrible thing, this religion that they have. They have lost sight of the Christ entirely. They think of him as best I could tell, as a babe. He is nearly always pictured as the babe in arms, and that’s the idea many have insofar as the Christ is concerned. I would not say that in all cases this is so; but in and among the people where we are working, this seemed to be the prevalent idea. The Christ is pictured as a.babe in nearly all of their imagery; but the mother is the one to be adored. So then is it not surprising to us as we pick up our newspapers of the last few days and find that the Catholic church has just this year passed another doctrine on to the people of the Catholic church and it is that Mary has now been taken into heaven, her body is there joined with her spirit; she is on equality with Christ in the respect of resurrection. And, as you well know, the teaching of the Catholic church is that Mary is above the Saviour. They say that if you fail to make your plea to get your wish through Jesus, you should take it to Mary; she has more influence with God than does Jesus. And that is what they believe 'in Italy. It’s a terrible thing, I repeat, to have such a religion as that; to be in a country that is supposed to be a Christian country, a Christian nation. I was amazed some time ago in picking up a magazine and reading that in the United Nations, the United Nations assembly, the United States is recognized as a heathen nation less than 50% religious and Italy as a Christian nation more than 90% religious. As we travel the streets of Italy, as we see the condition of their people, it causes us to marvel that such a country, one that ’is supposed to be Christian, one that has been under the influence of the Catholic church for these hundreds of years—you would expect this people to have standards in regard to religion that are above everything that is called religion. Their living standards surely ought to be much higher than they are elsewhere. Why? They have been known as a civilized nation for these many years. Such a conclusion 'is not true, however. Italy, iff my estimation, is one of the most backward nations, not only from the living standard, but also on up through the spiritual, the religious standard.

I am casting no reflection upon anyone from Italy. Anyone. that can come from Italy and can make the progress that some make, is to be commended. I think that many other Italians would do the same thing if they had the opportunity. They don’t have it. As we sat in our room in Frascati one night, we were discussing with a group that had met with us for Bible classes, the prospects for those that remain m Italy. These were young men from 24 to 30 years of age, and they began to talk to us of the things that they had to buy in Italy, and the cost of living. They asked us, “Now how much would I make in America?” Their ideal is America, if we can only go to America. How much would I get, one photographer helper who spoke to me asked, how much would I get if I were in America. I told him about what I thought he would get. He shook his head and he said, I get 2,000 lira a week, that is, above his living expenses. He was living with his brother, and he gave him 2,000 lira a week—or about $3.00 a week. )They told us of the many things that they had to buy, and it was very much higher than that which we were buying. I couldn’t tell him then that he oughtn’t to lift his eyes toward America, but toward some other place. The conclusion that they gave us that night was: There is no future in Italy. There is no future for us in Italy; that’s the way they felt about 'it. But do you know that very same young man that said there was no future in Italy, later obeyed the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And because of the interest that he has in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ he is remaining in Italy. He received permission to go into Argentina; he had his passport to go shortly after he obeyed the gospel, but he said, “I must stay in Italy, I must help my people by the proclamation of this gospel. I want to help others with the gospel of Christ.” And though he knows that there is no future as far as he is concerned, from the material side of life, he is willing to spend and be spent there in that country. I think it is a commendable spirit on his part.

We have used a lot of time in trying to tell you of their religion. We have heard that Italy is ninety-eight per cent Catholic, and some said that it is ninety-nine and one- half per cent Catholic. But in a letter recently received from Doctor Fama and from Doctor Gigliotto of Washington, this observation was made. They said that in Italy today there are more than twenty million people that do not have any active religious life; but the Catholic church tells you that they are all Catholic. They are Catholics because the Catholics baptized them when they were babies, and they can’t get off the rolls of the Catholic church. That’s the only reason they are Catholics. These men said over twenty million of thees people are not active at all, from the religious standpoint. So as we went among them and began to preach the gospel, we had a ripe field. When you ask them what they are, they will tell you they are Catholic. But when you question them further, you will find that they have not been active in the Catholic church for many, many years.

We began to teach the gospel within ten days after we landed in Italy. Though we at that time could not speak the language, we had Sister McPherson with us, who as you know is a native Italian. We had Brother Linscott who is good in the Italian language. He is an American who went over in August of 1948. It was through these that we worked, teaching the people. We began at that time wondering, now what will be the reaction of the people toward the teaching that we have to offer them. Do they want the gospel? Will they be willing to hear this gospel that we have ? It was slow at first; very few came as we first began to preach, but from time to time we added a class. A class in Italy may be two, it may be three, it may be sixty or seventy and up to three hundred persons. It just depends. But we add a class as we have opportunity.

If someone said that we could come to their house and preach the gospel, we went into that house and preached the gospel there. These brethren, during the summer and fall of last year and through the winter, were conducting about sixty to seventy classes per week in the homes and in whatever public place they might find; and those places are hard to find because the Catholic church will not allow us to rent halls in Italy if they possibly can keep us from it. So we have carried out the greater part of our teaching in the. private homes, and as we have said, we have taught from sixty to seventy classes each week. This is in addition to the other work which has been done. We have not let thei benevolent work interfere in any way with our teaching. When the time comes for classes, we have those classes. When the Lord’s day comes, we have teaching and that is all that we have. We impressed it upon the people shortly after we arrived, that we are not here to give away clothing on this day. This is the Lord’s day and we are here simply to teach. We would like for you to come and study with us. From the beginning of the work until October of last year we have seen a steady increase in the teaching program. The number of hearers had in ihese classes from week to week, is from 2,000 to 2,500, and there could be many, many more if we had the teachers to put over more classes. We are extremely fortunate that among those who were converted in the preaching of the gospel there have been some seven or eight that have had a desire to preach the gospel to their own people. Today, these seven or eight are assisting in this work, preaching the gospel to their own people. Because of this we have been able to carry on such an extensive teaching program. I might tell you a little of the results of the work, in just a moment or two. We wondered, when we went into Italy, as I said, of the reaction of the people toward the gospel. Insofar as wanting to hear it, we have the answer.

We have only been working) in a few towns around Rome; we haven’t gone out over any large part of Italy at all. As you go perhaps twenty miles to the southeast of Frascati, you would reach the limits of the places where we are preaching. As you come back toward Rome some twelve miles you would reach the limit on that side. Yet in that very restricted area we are teaching, as I have said, some 2,000 to 2,500 people each week, and we are doing but a small part of the teaching that we could do in that restricted area. But it’s all that we can do, so we have tried to carry on there. As a result of the teaching we find that over three hundred, up until January 15 of this year, had obeyed the gospel. When we went into Italy a year ago we did not know if we could baptize a person the first year or not. We had heard so many say that you can’t convert a Catholic. And do you know, we believed it; we have been believing it all these years.' The Catholics have caused us to believe that if they get one of the children and teach him for a few years, he will never depart from it. But these people have been anxious to know the truth, and we were impressed when we taught them, for as we began to show them the truth from the word of God, they would give up their Catholic doctrine, saying, “Yes, that is the word of God, since the word of God teached it, it must be so.” We were amazed at such a reaction from the people. It was encouraging, too.

Since this trouble has arisen in Italy the Catholic press has, of course, fought us from one end of Italy to the other, with the aid of the Communist press. I think that therein they have made a mistake, because if they had restricted their fighting to the part of the country where we were working, the towns where we were working, perhaps they would have been successful in hindering to some extent the work that we are doing. But now the church of Christ is known from one'end of Italy to the other. We have inquiries from doctors, from priests, from men in the schools, from men in every walk of life. We have inquiries from over all of Italy saying, Come over and tell us something about this church of Christ.” They have helped us from, that standpoint; if we just had someone to send, we could really make the church of Christ known in Italy today. One of those converted, as you know, in the past three months, has been an arch priest of the Catholic church. This came about because of the debates that were held with the Catholics in the summer of, last year. The monks of the Capucin Order came to us and challenged us on the teaching we were doing. When we first went into Italy and shortly after we began to teach the gospel, we found that upon some occasions three and four of these monks would come into the class and argue with the teacher, trying to disrupt the class; that was their way of hindering. Finally they challenged us to discuss some points of doctrine with them in these classes. As a result of that, a debate was held. Brother Paden debated with them for several nights at Villa Speranza and also at Villa Ruffinella, which is just a few miles outside of Frascati. Because of the teaching that was done, the arguments advanced by Brother Paden, the bishop of Frascati saw fit to issue a bulletin that went into the higher levels of the priesthood warning them against the doctrine that we were teaching. He made known the arguments that we used in this debate and this priest who was some 150 miles away from Frascati got one of these papers and began to read it. He said that it sounded reasonable to him. He sent to the brethren and said, “I’d like for you to come and talk with me.” We find him trying to learn a little more; coming to the brethren in Frascati and studying with them for a period of some weeks on these questions, and finally along the first of December last year he was baptized.

We could tell you incidents of many conversions in Italy, but we don’t have the time, in fact, we’ll have to close our part of this lesson. In Italy, Communism has been the issue, so the Catholic church tells us. The Italian Government has made the plea that our brethren, these people that have come to Italy, have lent themselves to the aims of Communism, perhaps they are not Communists, they said, but they have played into the hands of the Communists. That is not true! We have not at any time had anything to do with Communism. We told the police that we didn’t want anything to do with the Communists. We have told the commissioner of police in Frascati that we are not Communist and we are not Catholic; we don’t want anything to do with your politics. We are just here to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But that did not deter the Catholic church from making the charge that we are Communists. As you read in the Chronicle some two or three weeks ago, the Communists finally turned upon us because we refused to accept their aid in this crisis. So today, we stand alone in Italy. The Communists don’t want us. The Catholics don’t want us. And we are glad that this is so. We can imagine, however, the consternation of the Catholic church when they found out that the Communists didn’t want us.

It’s impossible to tell you much of what is in Italy at this time. It would take hours and hours. But we do want to assure you that the Catholic church is not as well thought of in Italy as you are led to suppose. We are told that only half of the people are really good Catholics; and we are told that only about half of those go to mass regularly. So we see the conditions as they are, concerning religion. The people want the gospel. Six or eight months ago they wrote us from Italy, saying send us more teachers. We need a hundred teachers; right now. We have enough calls to use everyone of them. As I said in the beginning, we realize the need of the gospel in every part of the globe. We know that 'in Italy they are anxious for it; they want it! As we view” them as they go about in their bigotry, in their heathenism, in their idolatry, it makes our hearts bleed to think that we can’t carry the gospel to them; they are willing, anxious, ready to receive it. Over 300 of them were baptized this first year. I know not how many would obey the gospel if we could carry it into all corners of Italy.

I have appreciated this opportunity of speaking along this line. We wish that we could answer all of your questions, but we don’t know what they are. So we will let this suffice for this time. Thank you.

“THE CHURCH IN ITALY -- Part Two”
Lecture by Jimmy Wood, February 23 1950, at Abilene
Christian College (9:30 a. m.)

We appreciate, too, this opportunity of being privileged to speak to you this morning and to tell you some of those things that are near and dear to us because they are the work of the Lord, and because of our association with them. Remember about a month and a half ago it was our privilege to be in this same auditorium, and to talk to the students for a few minutes concerning the crisis of our brethren in Italy. At that time we requested the prayers of the students, and faculty members for our work in Italy. We have had reports from many congre-gations where you as students went during the Christmas holidays. All of them told of the fact that you requested your home congregations to have special prayers for the Italian work. We are truly grateful for this, and believe that your prayers have availed a great deal. We would like to take this opportunity of thank mg each and every one of you for your co-operation and prayers for the work, and to solicit your continued help. We want to express our appreciation too, to all of the editors of our gospel papers for the space that they have given the work in Italy. We feel that this has helped a great deal in getting the brotherhood to see the need of carrying the gospel, not only mto Italy, but into all of the world.

Too, we appreciate the efforts of Abilene Christian College in seeing that the gospel is carried into all of the world. Most of our workers in Italy have attended Abilene Christian College, and a great deal of their missionary zeal was begun here at this college in their Bible courses, and in the Mission Study class. Among the many things that this school has done to mterest others in Foreign Mission work are these Annual Lecture Programs. laterally hundreds of appeals are made each year in behalf of Mission Work through these Lecture Programs. So, for all of these things we are truly grateful, and our hearts overflow this morning with gratitude for the co-operation and help that brethren everywhere have given to the work that is being done in Italy. The picture of our work in Italy would not be complete without a regime of the work that has been done in our own country. The policy of the Crescent Hill Church of Christ in Brownfield has been from the very beginning that this is not our work, nor the work of any one congregation, but that it is the work of the Lord, and of Christians everywhere. We have been interested in the work, and have put our hearts and our money into it. However, we do not claim to be the overlords of the Italian work, nor to control any of the work save Frascati Orphans’ Home, and Brother Cline Paden whom we are supporting in Italy. This is the extent of our participation in the Italian work, except that we have sought to give it all the publicity that we possibly could. Because of our interest in the work the brethren in Italy have looked to us for the publicity that is to be given it in this country, and we have done the best that we could. We believe that you are truly appreciative of this. The work 'in Italy was begun about two and one-half years ago. Since that time enough interest has been shown in the work in Italy to raise enough money to begin the operation of Frascati Orphans’ Home, and to begin the work of the Lord’s church there. Our property in Frascati may be valued at about $60,000, this money was contributed by brethren everywhere. This property is used to house the fifty orphan boys that we hope to take into the home, and to provide a meeting place for the church of Christ in Frascati. Without the support of the church everywhere this work would not have been possible. In addition to this brethren have responded most generously in the support of the seven American Christians that we have in Italy. These men are under the oversight of the elders of the churches of Christ who have assumed the responsibility of their support in Italy. The churches sponsoring these men in Italy are as follows: The Church of Christ in Nocona, Texas, is responsible for the support of the Jack McPhersons in Italy. They are being helped by several of the churches in that area. The Sears and Summitt Church of Christ in Dallas is supporting fully the Gordon Linscotts in Italy. The Hayes Avenue Church of Detroit, Michigan, is sponsoring the Wm. C. Hatchers in Italy. They are assisted by several of the congregations in the Detroit area. The East Side Church of Christ in Lubbock, Texas, has the oversight of the Harold Padens, and they are being assisted in their work by several of the churches on the South Plains. Brother Wyndal Hudson is responsible to the elders of the Seagraves Church of Christ, and is being supported by a number of the churches in that part of the state. The Crescent Hill Church of Christ is supporting Brother and Sister Cline Paden, and they are responsible to the elders there. Brother and Sister K. D. Pittman are being kept in Italy by the North Beach Church of Christ, and other churches in the Corpus area. These are the American workers in Italy, and we wish to make it clear that none of them except the Cline Padens are responsible to the Crescent Hill Church of Christ. In addition to these workers we have several native workers in Italy that are being supported by American churches. Like the American workers they are responsible to the churches who have assumed the responsibility of their support. The church in Burnet is supporting Brother Lorry Colassanti in Italy. Brother Henry Luccheti is able to do the work of an evangelist in Italy because of the support of the Pioneer Park Church of Christ in Lubbock, Texas. Brother Sam Corrazza is supported by the Grand Avenue Church of Christ in Sherman, Texas. Brother Guiseppi Torrerri, the converted Arch-Priest, is being supported by the Crane, Texas church of Christ. Brother Salvitore Puliga is under the oversight of the Central Church of Christ in Jackson, Miss. All of these workers make bi-weekly reports to their supporting- con-gregations, and are under the oversight of these churches. All of these native workers are working full time in the work of the church, and would make us ashamed of ourselves so far as their progress in the Lord’s kingdom is concerned. Other native workers are being supported by Brother James Mulkey of Wewoka, Oklahoma, who is sending $230 per month to the Frascati Church of Christ to be used m their support. Again we repeat that the church in Brownfield has nothing whatsoever to do with their supervision, for they are responsible to their sup-porting congregations, just like I am responsible to the elders of the Crescent Hill Church of Christ. We believe that this is right, and that it is the way that the Lord wishes it to be. As a result of the great physical needs of the Italian people the appeal for food and clothing was made to the brotherhood in the very beginning. As a result of this appeal over 7,000 boxes of food and clothing were sent into Italy in 1949. At present there are over 1,000 boxes of food and clothing being held in the Dogona in Rome, because of a technicality that the Italian government has found. We believe that this shows the genuine interest of the brotherhood here m the Italian people. We wish to express our appreciation, and the appreciation of the brethren in Italy for your co-operation in this. Many doors have been opened in Italy as a result of this benevolent work, that would not have been open to us without it. The church of Christ in Italy has a unique reputation because of the benevolent work that has been done. The support of Frascati Orphans’ Home is another one of the many things that brethren here in America have been most generous in. ‘In the beginning we asked that $2,500 per month be contributed to this work. With this money we have been able to buy and repair the property that we have in Italy, and we now have facilities to take care of fifty orphan boys there. Though we have the room to take care of these boys in Italy the Commissario of Frascati issued an order on October 13th, 1949 that we were to take no more boys into the home. At this time we have 22 orphaned boys in the home. The Life magazine article of February 20th showed the empty beds, and the empty seats at our tables there that could not be filled because of this order. Thus far this order has not been repealed.

Now let us notice the many things that have been done in the United States in recent weeks in regard to the obtaining of permanent visas for our workers in Italy. There has been a great deal of publicity about the work in Italy and about the work of the church of Christ in our own country. This publicity has been spontaneous, and hasn’t been encouraged or urged by our brethren in Italy, by us in Brownfield, or by any member of the church of Christ so far as I know. I am sure that no member of the church of Christ has wanted any more to appear in the papers and magazines about the church in Italy than was justly deserved. This news has come as a result of our work in Italy, and as a result of the interest that the church of Christ has had in carrying the gospel into all the world. You will be interested to know that every major newspaper in the United States has carried the story of the work of the church of Christ in Italy, not one time, but many times during the past few weeks. Beginning on the sixth of January, and continuing until now, the complete story has been carried by AP, UP and INS wires.

We have received a great deal of publicity good and bad, and regardless of what some have said, we believe that this has done good because many have heard of the church that would have never heard of it had it not been for these things. A sister writes from Chicago that the story has appeared on the front pages of the Chicago Herald Tribune for two consecutive Sundays. The Chicago Herald Tribune has one of the largest circulations of any newspaper in the United States, one million and six hundred thousand. This means that one million and six hundred thousand people heard of the church of Christ that had never heard of it before. So we believe that a great deal of good has been done by the nublicity that we have received. It has not only appeared in the Chicago papers, but in the Washington, the New York, and the Los Angeles papers. In fact it has appeared in papers all across this great land of ours, and there is not a person in the United States today that does not know that the church of Christ exists.

News has come from Germany, Japan, Africa, and Italy that the story has been carried in various foreign papers. Brother Lemmons tells us that the brethren in Africa have written that it will do them a great deal of good in approaching those who had never heard of the church of Christ before. Our brethren in Italy tell us that as a result of the publicity that has been given them in Italy they 'have received letters from every major city in that country begging them to come and preach the gospel to them. Even the slanted stories that the Catholic papers have carried in that country have done a great deal of good.

Many of our leading magazines have carried excellent stories concerning the work in Italy. The story in Time was of course unfortunate, but it was1 more than offset by the unbiased story that appeared in Life. Such publicity as this could not be bought with money, and has been worth million of dollars to the church of Christ. The church will reap the results of this publicity for many years to come. It is up to us to take advantage of all of it, and to tell as many as possible the story of Christ in the next few years.

Dr. Gighotti, an official in the Presbyterian church who has done much to promote religious freedom in the country of Italy, writes us that the Frascati incident has had more to do with the resignation of Myron C. Taylor than any single thing that has happened 'in Italy. (As the Lectures go into print it seems that President Truman due to Catholic pressure is going to appoint another envoy. We are hoping that this is not so, but at present there seems to be no doubt but what he will. J. W.) Dr. Gigliotti was one of the protestant ministers sent from the United States to Italy in 1945 and 1946 to help write the Italian Peace Treaty and the Constitution. He was largely responsible for the “Religious Freedom” clauses that appeared in both documents. Clauses that were supposed to guarantee us the right to do the sort of work that we are doing in Italy. In permitting our workers to be persecuted the Italian government has violated these Religious Freedom clauses. It might be well that all of you, if you have not already done so, write a letter to President Truman, protesting that another envoy not be sent to Italy. All of these things show us that a great deal of good has been done by our brethren in Italy.

Many have asked why the Catholics have persecuted us so much in Italy. One of our representatives asked us while we were in Washington last month, Why the church of Christ missionaries are being persecuted so much more in Italy than many Protestant missionaries. Of course it would be impossible to explain to a man who is not a member of the church why the Catholics are persecuting us more than other missionaries, but you and I know the reason. The gospel of our Lord is the only thing in the world today that can offer any real threat to Catholicism today. The only formidable threat that Catholicism ever (has had, or ever will have is undenominational Christianity. Our brethren have preached and taught the gospel of Christ in Italy, and this is the reason that they have been persecuted.

Instead of our challenging the Catholics for debate, they have challenged us. The Franciscan Monks came to our services and challenged our brethren for debates. When we met them in debate for three nights they wanted to quit, when they had made the statements that they would follow us all over Italy until they had run us out of the country. The discussions were continued for three nights, and the Catholics were the ones that were made to suffer. Since the time of the Campbell-Purcell debate Catholics (have known that the Catholic church could not stand an investigation of the truth. One of the Catholic bishops in Italy made the statement after they had challenged us for debate that they had one debate with us, undoubtedly referring to the Campbell-Purcell debate, and that it hadn’t turned out so well. These are the reasons that we have been persecuted in Italy, and the reasons that the Catholic church will oppose us wherever we go. We have not sought your sympathy, nor the sympathy of our Government because of these persecutions, but we have asked for the right to continue to work in the country of Italy.

Some have wondered how the Catholic church will be affected by the things that have been done in Italy. It seems that everything that they have done in opposing our work has blown up in their faces. They first said that we were Communists, and then were made to look foolish when the Communist press in Italy attacked us. They tried to save their face by saying through the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore, that the Communists had at last seen the true light and were opposing us. Not only have they lost face in these things, but in everything that they have done 'in Italy. They have lost ground in our own country, they have lost ground in Italy. We naturally didn’t know how to cope with their trickery, and would not have tried to meet them on their own grounds, but we believe that the Lord has had a hand in all that has been done. The Lord has prevailed, and the power of prayer has helped us to see that we do not have to resort to their underhanded tricks in order to grow in Italy or the United States. None of us should doubt for a moment, but what the Catholic church will lose ground as a result of these things.

Let us say these things in conclusion now. We need your continued support financially and otherwise, and will continue to solicit your prayers for the work in Italy. Our brethren in Italy need your prayers. They are continuously faced with problems that they have never had to meet before. Their decisions are all-important to the work there, and they will need the help of brethren everywhere in making them. Few of the brethren here realize the importance of making the proper decisions there, or the responsibility that they have in making them. We have made many mistakes here and in Italy since this work was begun, but we feel that we have profited from these mistakes. Nobody could foresee the many problems that would arise as a result of the work that we were beginning in Italy, and the only way some of these problems could be worked out was to actually begin this work. We (have appreciated the criticisms of brethren everywhere, and have striven to profit by them. Our brethren need your prayers, and we need your prayers that we might do the right things in the country of Italy.

One of the greatest needs in Italy at present is a need that is felt in every mission field in the world. The need of more workers in the field. We need more gospel preachers to go into the field, young and old. Some have criticized the workers in Italy because of their youth, but we think that they are to be commended for their willingness to go. Hardly a letter comes from Italy without the appeal for some older men to come. They feel the need of experience there, and we wish that some of our older preachers would go. However, since none of the older ones are willing to go, we are happy that these our breth-ren are in Italy, and doing the job that they are doing. We have others who are ready to go. Brother Howard Bybee, a graduate of George Pepperdine College is ready and anxious to go. Brother Carl Mitchell, another graduate of George Pepperdine, and at present the evangelist of the Sichel Street Church of Christ in Los Angeles, is ready to go. Brother James Davis, who holds a degree from David Lipscomb College is ready to go. Brother Lowell Paden, a graduate of Abilene Christian College, is ready to go. Each of these men have made their applications for Long Term Visas, and are soliciting the necessary support for them to go into Italy. If you know of a congregation willing to assume the responsibility of their sup-port we would appreciate your getting in contact with them, or with us in Brownfield, and we will be more than glad to give you their addresses. "Two of these men are single, and will need approximately $250 per month. The other two are married, and will need about $300 per month. Surely there are some congregations who are willing to support these men in Italy.

Many have asked about the possibility of our workers being allowed to stay in Italy. The Italian Government has not as yet given them the permission to stay in Italy, but we have beeen assured by our own government, and by the Italian Embassy in Washington that they will be allowed to stay. One of the officials of our own State Department told Brother Reuel Lemmons while in Washington a couple of weeks ago that, the Italian Government could not afford to force us out of Italy. He went ahead to say that they could give us Frascati easier than they could force us out of Italy just now. He went ahead to say that the publicity that they have received in recent weeks after just threatening their expulsion would be nothing like the publicity that they would receive if our brethren were to have to leave. He also said that the Pope could do more damage to the Holy Year by making us leave than by any other thing that he could do. We believe with all of our heart that these things will be worked out satisfactorily.

We appreciate what you have done in regard to writing to our representatives in Washington, D. C. The church of Christ is respected in Washington, and we believe that the majority of our congressmen are on our side. Over 300 of our congressmen have registered protests with our State Department concerning the treatment of our missionaries in Italy. All of the representatives that Brother Chisholm and I saw while we were in Washington told us that they had received more mail on this thing than on anything that had happened in recent years. One of Senator Johnson’s secretaries told us that the Senator had received more mail on the “Frascati Incident” than on anything else since he had been in Washington.
One of the officials in the State Department suggested to Brother Morris while he was in Washington recently that it would be best for our brethren not to write any more to Washington for awhile. He said that further letters just now might serve to antagonize the Italian Government. The State of Texas is well represented in Washington, and we appreciate all that our congressmen have done for our work in Italy. If our workers are not granted visas we believe that we should again voice our protests to our government.

Some have asked what would happen to the work in Italy if our workers were forced to leave. Of course the work would be hindered if our American brethren were forced out of Italy, but it would not be stopped. The gospel has been firmly planted in Italy, and there is no reason to assume that the church would not continue to grow under the leadership of our Italian brethren. Brother Gordon Linscott, and Brother Jimmy Cantilli will be allowed to remain in Italy if our other workers are forced to leave. The property that we have there cannot be taken away from us. Recently Brother Paden wrote that we need not fear losing the property if they were forced to leave.

Let us remind you again that this is not the work of the Crescent Hill Church of Christ, nor the work of any other individual congregation, but that it is the Lord’s work, and that we are anxious that it redound to his glory and his honor. Let us all continue to co-operate in carrying the gospel to the lost of the world, and let us do it in a scriptural way.

Thank you again, Brother Morris, for this privilege of speaking on the 1950 Abilene Christian College Lectures, we hope that we have been able to give the information that all of you were looking for in regard to our work in Italy.