Evening star., 1952-10-01
Church of Christ

The Star and the Associated Press are
to be congratulated upon the unbiased
presentation Of the news Of the second
wave Of persecution which the mission
aries Of the Church of Christ in italy
now are undergoing. It has been stated
in the press and on the radio that the
number of converts from catholicism
to the Church Of Christ in Italy since
World War II and the evangelistic
fervor Of these missionaries account
for the concern now felt by the Catholic
hierarchy in Italy. In addition to this.
the plea of the Church Of Christ.
"Where the Scriptures speak, we speak;
where they are silent, we are SILENT"
makes q strong impact on those who
are firing of human traditionalism and
authoritarianism in religion and who
long for something they can read and
understand for themselves from the
Bible.
In the present emergency Of rising
to aid our beleagured brethren in Italy.
it might be Of interest to some to know
that the Church of Christ has no official
governing body, board or convention on
q national or international scale through
which official action can be taken. One
of its cardinal tenets is the autonomy of
the local congregation. Yet in spite Of
this seeming handicap. when our
preachers in Italy were subjected to in
dignitieS three years ago, such as being
stoned and having their orphanage
closed In sFrascati. Italy, the almost
2 million members Of the Church of
Christ in this country. aided by free
dom-loving people Of other organiza-
tions, worked almost rs one man in
invoking the aid Of the State Depart
ment in guaranteeing the same freedom
Of religion for our missionaries in
Catholic Italy as Roman Catholics are
allowed In Protestant America. Then
as now. the obsolete Mussolini statutes,
officially invalidated by the 1947 con-
stitution of Italy, were invoked to pre-
vent our missionaries from preaching,
distributing relief packages, operating
their orphanage, and in securing perma-
nent visas.
That this is not just religious dis
pute but an opening wedge toward
the suppression OF all non-Catholic
groups in Italy is evidenced by the
representative hOCcuUdIlCc Al 1UCCJ.
ing here in Washington September Is.
Men from 40 non-Catholic religious
bodies. having q combined membership
in the United States of around 49,
500, 900. were present. Among those at
tending was DR.. Frank b. Gigliotti, who
ofncially was appointed to help draft
Article 10 Of the italian constitution
Of 1947. guaranteeing freedom Of
religion and freedom Of assembly.
In reply to q query as to why the
Church Of Christ missionaries are max
ing such serious inroads on catholicism,
in the shadow Of the Vatican, the prob
able answer lies in the fact that this
group adheres rigidly to the Bible and
the Bible alone. taking the New Testa-
ment as its rule Of faith and action and
asking its followers to be called Chris
tians and Christians alone. It insists that
the Bible is not the exclusive property
Of priests and clergy and that in a
church after the New Testament order
it is impossible for any man to be q
dictator since Jesus Christ is the only
acknowledged head Of the church. It
is small wonder that the italian people
are lending attentive ears to a form
of Christianity in keeping with democ-
racy.
Fred B. Walker, Minister,
Arlington Church Of Christ.