Yearbook—1982

Title Page/​Publishers’ Page

1982 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Containing Report for the Service Year of 1981

Also Daily Text and Comments

Jehovah’s Witnesses are grateful for the privilege they have ‘to make known to the sons of men Jehovah’s mighty acts and the glory of the splendor of Jehovah’s kingship.’​—Ps. 145:12.

Index of Countries

Page

24 1981 Service Year Report, 206 Countries

Acts of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Modern Times in:

34 Chile

113 Italy

260 Yeartext for 1982

261 Daily Text and Comments

1982 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Marked Evidence of Increased Kingdom Fruitage!

Throughout the past year, Jehovah’s Witnesses have kept before themselves Psalm 145, particularly the yeartext from Ps 145 verses 10 and 11: “Your loyal ones will bless you. About the glory of your kingship they will talk.” How, then, did their work of talking about Jehovah’s kingship progress during the 1981 service year, the period of 12 months, September 1980 to August 1981 inclusive?

This public preaching by Jehovah’s Witnesses is truly an essential part of their worship of Jehovah. The 145th Psalm beautifully describes what Jehovah’s worshipers do, and this his witnesses have done during the past service year. They have exalted and blessed their “God the King.” (Ps 145 Vs. 1) They have praised his name, making Jehovah’s wonderful works their concern. (Ps 145 Vs. 5) To others they have spoken of God’s goodness, graciousness and mercy. (Ps 145 Vss. 7, 8) In all of this they have emphasized Jehovah’s kingdom and have warned of Jehovah’s purpose to annihilate the wicked. (Ps 145 Vs. 20) Truly they have demonstrated that they desire to see “all flesh bless his holy name to time indefinite, even forever.” (Ps 145 Vs. 21) Some highlights of the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses as ministers of the message of Jehovah’s kingdom during their past service year are set out in this Yearbook report. It is our hope that this report will prove to be interesting and stimulating to those who read it.

The work that is being accomplished by the earth-wide congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses is very significant, and the understanding and appreciation of this can lead to wonderful personal blessings. As the report shows, there are millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses and persons who have associated with their congregations, and in addition, there are many persons who have some interest in what Jehovah’s Witnesses are doing. As in the first century, there is increase “from day to day.” (Acts 16:5) Would it not be a wonderful development if all these millions of persons understood and appreciated the significance of the increasing proclamation of the message of Jehovah’s kingdom, and in love for Jehovah dedicated themselves to him? They could then share more fully in informing other persons of Jehovah’s kingdom and his purposes. Should they choose to do so, what a tremendous increase in the activities outlined in the 145th Psalm would result, all to Jehovah’s praise!

Significant it is that following the establishment of Jehovah’s heavenly kingdom by Christ Jesus in 1914, and as early as the end of World War I in 1918, there were 3,868 proclaimers of the Kingdom message. This little band was active in 14 countries. Ten years later their ranks had grown to a total of 23,988 active in 32 countries, and by 1938, 47,143 were proclaiming the message of God’s established kingdom and his purpose toward mankind in 52 lands of the earth. Coming down to 1948, we find a peak of 260,756 reporting their ministry in 96 countries, which grand worldwide total increased in another 10 years to 798,326 in 1958, the number of countries reached by them increasing that year to 175. Then the peak of Kingdom proclaimers grew by 1968 to 1,221,504; 1978, 2,182,341; 1981, 2,361,896, and the lands reached totaled 206 nations and island groups all around the globe.

These Kingdom proclaimers, Jehovah’s Witnesses, recognize that their work of preaching and teaching the life-giving truths contained in God’s Word the Bible is definitely part of their worship of Jehovah and constitutes a major portion of their public ministry. It has been said that their house-to-house ministry is a “trademark” of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This is to be expected in the case of true Christians in view of the Bible’s precedents and commands.​—Matt. 4:17; 28:19, 20; Acts 10:42.

Indicative of what can be accomplished if all who are associated with Jehovah’s Witnesses participate in telling others of Jehovah’s Kingdom arrangement is the Memorial attendance of the past three years. Celebrating the Memorial of the death of Christ Jesus each spring, according to the reports received from around the world, were 5,323,766 in 1979; 5,726,656 in 1980; and 5,987,893 on April 19, 1981.

The chart appearing on pages 24-31 shows that during the 1981 service year 2,361,896 persons were active publishers of the Kingdom message. This is a thrilling figure because it is the highest in the history of the Christian congregation. That is a joy to us, and we feel it will be a joy and an encouragement to you. As we have seen, twice that number associated with the congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses for the celebration of the death of our Redeemer, Christ Jesus, now our reigning King. What a wonderful opportunity lies before these persons to demonstrate individually their love for Jehovah, and their loyalty to his kingdom, by each one’s calling the attention of others to Jehovah’s loving purposes. In this way these join in demonstrating their appreciation of the great significance of the Kingdom proclamation, which in itself is part of the evidence that God’s kingdom has been established in heaven.​—Matt. 24:14.

CONSTRUCTION AND EXPANSION

Through their religious organization, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (and related religious associations, corporations and societies in various countries), Jehovah’s Witnesses operate 96 branches throughout the world. The branch offices oversee the proclamation of the Kingdom message in the various countries as this is carried on by the ministers of God’s kingdom, Jehovah’s Witnesses. During the past several years reports have been published by the Society relative to expansion of branch facilities. In some countries this expansion has been in the form of enlarging existing facilities. In others there has been a relocation of branches; land was acquired and new structures were erected. All this expansion has been done to provide adequately for the needs of each branch in its handling of the increase in the work of the Christian congregation.

These branches and their facilities are provided for the sole purpose of equipping the modern-day Christian organization to do the great work of which Jesus spoke and which is due to be accomplished in these “last days.” (Matt. 24:14; 2 Tim. 3:1) Jehovah’s Witnesses are formed into a worldwide ministerial organization preaching the Kingdom message in 206 lands and islands of the sea. Many of the branches have printeries where Bibles, books and magazines, as well as other literature, are produced by Jehovah’s Witnesses for Bible study and for aiding others to learn of Jehovah’s provisions through Christ Jesus, mankind’s Redeemer. Since it is incumbent upon Jehovah’s Witnesses to do this preaching work, their production and distribution of the Kingdom message by printed page in the publications they provide is an essential and integral part of their faith and worship. The printing and distribution of their publications spread the truths contained in the Bible far and wide. This work is an evidence of the faith of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a manifestation of their integrity, and is essential for the building up of the faith of other persons. So, all this Bible literature produced by the various printing branches is prepared in order to help persons grow in knowledge of Jehovah’s grand purposes.

We are very grateful that it has been possible to meet the needs of the branches with respect to their facilities. The costs monetarily have been high, as a result of the worldwide inflation. In each branch where it has been necessary to undertake these projects, Jehovah’s Witnesses have provided funds to meet the needs. This they have done by the gifts and loans that they have made to the Society for these specific purposes. We here express sincere appreciation for the support that Jehovah’s Witnesses in general have given to these efforts. On every hand we see evidence of Jehovah’s blessings on these projects and also on those who have made them possible, not only by means of financial support but by their labor in the construction of these facilities.

Just one example: the branch in Japan, engaged in a large construction project that they anticipate finishing in the summer of 1982, reports that during August 1981, they had a new peak of 63,447 publishers, a 12-percent increase over the same month of 1980. Outstandingly, the branch says: “There were some 44,000 publishers when we started the construction, but we have increased 44 percent in three years. We had 62,000 Bible studies when the construction began, but now some 90,000 studies are reported, a 45-percent increase. This is very encouraging to us as we see the nearness of the end. The pioneer spirit is still strong, almost every month the rate of the pioneers has been around 30 percent to 33 percent of all publishers; among them 10,238 are regular pioneers.”

A contrast in size, but similar in spirit, the Solomon Islands branch also refers to their branch office and Bethel home which was dedicated in June 1981. The branch says, “after working on the renovations and extensions to the original property since 1978, the brothers were keenly looking forward to seeing the completed project and sharing in the dedication weekend. Many had been saving their money for some time for the trip over from their home island of Malaita, and for a week or so before the dedication the interisland boats were crowded with brothers and sisters, some bringing live chickens, pigs and bags of sweet potatoes and cassava to share a meal together at the dedication. Others were coming from Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and as far as the United States for the occasion. They went through the fine two-story building to see the results of the brothers’ work.” Here, as in the many other projects, the bulk of the labor was supplied by Jehovah’s Witnesses. This is very much appreciated.

As observers know, the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses provide Kingdom Halls for their congregation meetings and other activities. Jehovah’s Witnesses provide the facilities for the printing of the Kingdom message, and they also distribute the publications in their efforts to help people to understand the Bible. This entire service is a work of ministry, of worship of Jehovah and proclamation of the message of his kingdom and the day of his vengeance.

THE INTERNATIONAL BETHEL FAMILY

Each branch is staffed by ministers who comprise the Bethel family and in the printing branches these ministers produce the Society’s publications as part of their sacred service. An example of the dedication and productiveness of these faithful ones in the various branches is seen in the activities of the Bethel family in the United States. In order to meet the demands upon the branch organization, these have worked many thousands of hours in addition to their regular daily work. Those looking after the Bethel home in Brooklyn had to do so, and the same was true of the work force at the Brooklyn printery, where just one example is that there were only five weeks of the year that the pressroom was running on its normal single shift. With the conversion to offset printing, the requirement of extra hours will continue for an indefinite time. In the United States branch a large number of the Bethel family are serving at Watchtower Farms where there are both farming and printing operations, the latter producing the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. There also, extra hours were willingly devoted by the Bethel family in order to meet the needs of the work. Indeed, Bethel is a place for production, and we wish to express appreciation for the diligence of the international Bethel family everywhere in caring for their assignments.

In reporting their activities, the branches throughout the earth have expressed their warm love for the entire brotherhood of the earth-wide Christian congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. We are very glad to convey here to all these this assurance of love and loyalty from Jehovah’s people everywhere.

THE CONGREGATIONS ARE APPRECIATED

As the chart shows, the end of the service year finds 43,870 congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide. Christians sincerely appreciate the congregations, their meetings and their ministerial activities, and often they must put forth great effort to attend the Kingdom Hall where each congregation gathers. Jehovah’s Witnesses know the spiritual value of attending, and so real effort is expended by them, not only to reach the people with the Kingdom message and to study the Word of God with interested ones, but also to fortify themselves spiritually by taking advantage of the congregation provisions.​—Heb. 10:24, 25.

For instance, in Papua New Guinea one young minister walks seven hours each way every week to conduct a Bible study with a married couple, and this couple in turn walks seven hours each week to attend the public talk and Watchtower study at the Kingdom Hall. In thus making the meetings of the congregation a high priority, these persons are showing heavenly wisdom and appreciation of spiritual things, which are of real value. In that same country a small group of ministers who are serving as pioneers walked 25 miles to attend the meetings of the nearest congregation, and then they returned the same distance to their territory to do their ministry among the people.

The activity of congregations is most interesting and effective. In Chile, a small congregation of 21 publishers had ordered 1,000 handbills for the special talk in April 1981, but due to problems in the mail, the handbills arrived the night before the talk was to be given. This was the first Sunday of the month, and all 21 publishers covered a good portion of the town with the invitations, making short visits on the people from house to house. They managed to distribute all the handbill invitations and how overjoyed they were that afternoon when 98 persons attended the public talk!

In all the congregations of Jehovah’s people, there is a program of Bible instruction, generally comprising five meetings weekly. Every week there is a public meeting and study of the Watchtower magazine as well as congregation studies in another of the Society’s publications. Also, there is the Theocratic Ministry School and the service meeting. These combine to give needed information, counsel, guidance and assistance in spiritual matters. They constitute a major portion of the feeding on spiritual truths needed by each servant of Jehovah. In these and other areas the congregation provides essential services for Christians. The Scriptures show that an individual cannot serve Jehovah on his own, cannot come to an understanding of His Word by himself, nor cope with the difficult “last days” without the congregation. The outcome of all those who endeavor to do so proves the truthfulness of God’s Word on this matter.​—Prov. 18:1.

Wherever you live, in all probability there is a Kingdom Hall within your reach. Perhaps you have never attended any of the meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, but whether you have or not you are invited to attend, and we believe that you will find the occasion to be interesting, encouraging and spiritually upbuilding to you. Generally you will find those who attend the meetings to be friendly and helpful, and you will certainly be welcomed.

PUBLISHERS, OLD AND YOUNG

Seven columns of the chart of the year’s activity have to do with “publishers.” You will see the peak or largest number of publishers reporting in any one month in each of the countries listed and the ratio of publishers to population of the country. The average publishers are shown with a percentage of increase or decrease as compared with the preceding service year of 1980, and for that year the average number of publishers is listed. Then we have the figures for newly baptized, and pioneers.

The term “publisher” is a convenient one to use in referring to ministers of Jehovah’s Witnesses participating in the public preaching from house to house and contacting the general public with the Kingdom message in other ways. These have reported their activity to the congregations with which they are associated, and it is from these individual reports that the worldwide report is compiled. In some lands communications are difficult, and there are persons living there who are ministers but whose reports are not received for some reason. Perhaps some overlook reporting, and so the figures given are conservative. Pioneer publishers are those who are spending their full time in their public ministerial activities.

The contributions that the Society receives from Jehovah’s Witnesses enable the Society to care for the needs of those who are devoting their full time to the ministry in the capacities of missionaries, circuit and district overseers, and special pioneers. During the past service year of 1981, the cash costs for supporting these full-time ministers throughout the world totaled $21,116,480.89. This compares with $22,588,894.17 for the service year of 1980, and $20,136,626.07 in 1979. These funds have been well spent in aiding Jehovah’s Witnesses in their special full-time service, and we are most appreciative that Jehovah’s people as a whole have made this possible.​—1 Cor. 4:2.

Jehovah’s Witnesses know that there is no furlough in their spiritual warfare, and some of them are advanced in years. Others are young in years, many being young adults. These young people are finding the Christian ministry to be advantageous in every way, and especially is the good relationship with Jehovah, as a result of the individual dedication each one makes, essential during these difficult times when the serious problems of youths are so many and so devastating to young lives. Ministers of Jehovah’s Witnesses who are also parents endeavor to discharge their God-given responsibility toward their children with respect to matters of worship, and such is a blessing to entire families.

Young ministers have many fine opportunities to uphold Jehovah’s righteous standards. (Eccl. 12:1) An example of this is in the report from Hawaii where a young minister still in high school used a class assignment to share Scriptural views with her classmates. She states, “I had an assignment to give a speech with a convincing argument. So I decided to talk on abortion. I began my research and found information in the book Aid to Bible Understanding [a Watch Tower publication] on the definition of abortion. The May 22, 1980, issue of the magazine Awake! provided me with all the rest of the material I needed.

“The day came for my talk and the whole class was in attendance, which was very unusual. As I began my introduction, the students acted childishly and joked about what I was saying. But as I continued, fully convinced that the information would be beneficial for them, their attitude changed and they began to listen with more interest. Whenever they asked questions, I referred to Bible principles, which gave them something to think about. Last of all, I read to them ‘Diary of an Unborn Child’ from the Awake! [May 22, 1980]. There was complete silence. Some of the girls had tears in their eyes, while the students who had had so much to say in support of abortion remained silent.

“Then the teacher said that she was pregnant and was seriously contemplating having an abortion. She expressed how thankful she was to have a fuller understanding of the Bible’s view, especially how God feels about life and how he knows of every living creature under the heavens. Now she could never go through with the abortion.

“The students applauded, and I was so happy I used the opportunity to give a witness. Later on I was informed by the same teacher that she gave birth to a healthy baby.”

Sweden reports in regard to a teenager who received his teacher’s permission to conduct a 20-minute session in class with questions and answers about Jehovah’s Witnesses. The interest was so great that the session was prolonged and lasted three hours and 15 minutes. After the session all his 23 classmates asked for literature, and 55 bound books were placed. The young brother is arranging to become a regular pioneer. How worth while this young life!

In Africa, Christian parents were becoming very concerned about their teenage daughter because of her becoming more worldly in dress and association, but they hesitated to restrict her too much in case it might push her further away from the truth. Then came a crisis when the girl said she could not fight against the world. The parents prayed and discussed the situation, and then the father had a straight talk with his daughter. There was no outburst by the girl who said, “I have been praying that daddy would do something about it because I could not cope on my own.” She wrote to the circuit overseer, “When mom and dad clamped down on me, I knew they loved me and wanted me to be in the same happy family with them in the new order.”

With Armageddon drawing ever nearer, how encouraging for young people is the following from one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who has been a faithful missionary for many years. She states:

“I was born in 1939 at the outbreak of World War II. My parents felt that Armageddon would be right on its heels, so we children were encouraged from our very tender years to use our time wisely in this dying old system in Jehovah’s service. From the year the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead opened, when I was only four years old, my mother would talk to me about it and to have it as my goal. At the age of six years, after my first school term, I vacation pioneered. Each succeeding summer vacation I pioneered until I graduated from high school at which time I entered the pioneer service. Another thing that contributed to my formation was that, during my teenage years, my father arranged his work schedule so that he could be a regular pioneer, setting a good example for us children.

“I married a pioneer brother who had the same desire as myself, to go to the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, and as a couple that long-desired goal was achieved in 1960. That same happy year saw my brother invited to Bethel and my parents enter the circuit activity.

“I thank my parents and Jehovah God for the good training and encouragement I received in my youth that have contributed to more than 20 years of real joy in full-time service.”

My Book of Bible Stories continues to be a most effective instrument for use by younger and older ministers alike in assisting people to give attention to God’s Word. In an African country, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who works in a small factory displayed two copies of My Book of Bible Stories on his desk, one in English and the other in Afrikaans. He has placed more than 190 copies so far. A man who took a book gave it to his son, and the boy took it to school. The boy’s teacher read it and then ordered five copies, which they now use in the school class for morning worship.

In Sardinia, a 12-year-old girl is always ready to take the initiative in talking about the truth of God’s Word, and to this end she brings My Book of Bible Stories to school with her. She reads it during the school period for teaching the Catholic religion, from which class she has been exempted. A Catholic priest noticed her reading the book and asked to see it. After having examined it, he expressed his appreciation for it and invited the girl to read one of the stories to the entire class. After this was done, it was arranged for our young sister to read a story to her class every week, explaining it to her classmates. The priest has obtained a copy for himself so he can read this in other classes.

Somewhat similar is the experience of one of our young brothers attending school in Chile. There an 11-year-old lad has a regular assignment to teach his class religious subjects for which he uses My Book of Bible Stories, even giving his classmates written tests and grading them.

When a seven-year-old boy took his copy of My Book of Bible Stories to school, the teacher saw it and requested that the missionary of Jehovah’s Witnesses who left the book with the boy’s mother come to the school. The missionary paid a visit to the school and the teacher took 40 books for his entire Bible class, inviting the missionary to attend the weekly classes for discussions on the book.​—Matt. 21:16.

This is a sampling of what is being done with the splendid publication My Book of Bible Stories and of the very commendable efforts on the part of publishers of all ages.

THE DAILY TEXT

Following the reports on the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses in various countries, the daily text and comments appear in this Yearbook. They are provided as an aid for daily Bible reading. Upon your arising, at the breakfast table or another family meal, during the evening, or at some other convenient time every day, your reading of the text and printed comments will be of value. Many read, not only the Scripture text as quoted in the Yearbook daily, but also the context in the Bible and make reference to The Watchtower from which the printed comment is taken.​—Acts 17:11.

This Yearbook provision is much appreciated by Jehovah’s people. An example of this is reported from Australia. This concerns two of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a mother and her daughter, who live 20 miles apart on separate cattle stations. They wanted to have a daily text discussion, and so by means of their local radio network, known as the flying doctor radio network, they would discuss the text for the day every morning at 8:30. The daily discussion could be heard by all in the area if they desired to listen in. A woman 50 miles away, at 8:30 in the morning, told her visitor, “You will have to excuse me now, it’s time to go and listen to the text for the day.” This text discussion that is so important to these two women has been beneficial to listeners up to 360 miles (580 km) away. We encourage you to read the text and comments daily.

“NO PART OF THE WORLD”

True Christians have always been neutral as far as the politics and controversies of the nations of the world are concerned. During this time of increasing violence, violence such as the world has never before known, the neutrality of Jehovah’s Witnesses is not only a demonstration of loyalty to Jehovah and his kingdom but also a protection to Jehovah’s people. The position of Jehovah’s Witnesses with respect to this issue is clear and is well known in all lands. No doubt it is difficult for the officials of some nations to understand the neutrality of Jehovah’s Witnesses clearly, but the position of Christians has been plainly stated in the Bible and in the literature of the Witnesses. Hence, there should be no occasion to have any doubt as to where they stand nor as to the correctness of the position they take or have, that is, neutrality respecting the controversies of the world and the politics of the nations. This, of course, is necessary because Jehovah’s Witnesses are followers of Christ Jesus, and that was his position.​—John 15:19; 17:14.

From a Latin-American country that is going through a period of tremendous crime and violence, filling the people with a paralyzing fear, come reports of the safeguard Christian neutrality is to Jehovah’s Witnesses in that land. There are more publishers of the Kingdom message in that strife-torn country than ever before, and they are conducting many thousands of home Bible studies with the people, even though their activity involves inconveniences and traveling under dangerous conditions. By identifying themselves as Jehovah’s Witnesses many have had Jehovah’s protection. Their record of strict neutrality in political matters and of true Christian conduct has served as a protection, as the following experiences illustrate:

At 5:00 a.m. a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses waited for a bus to take them to their assignment for their work of preaching and teaching the Bible. Suddenly a group of masked and heavily armed men approached them and asked what they thought of a particular political group. The brothers explained that they were Jehovah’s Witnesses and did not take part in political matters. Their explanation was accepted and the group of men began to search the houses in the town looking for arms or enemies. As they were about to enter a brother’s house that also served as the local Kingdom Hall, they asked the neighbors if there were arms there. The answer was, “Only Jehovah’s Witnesses live in that house.” At that, the group decided not to enter because “those people do not have any problems with anyone.” By 8:50 a.m. the group of men had left the town and within a few minutes the military forces arrived and they too began a house-to-house search. In front of the Kingdom Hall they asked if the group of men had entered. The answer was, “No, because only Jehovah’s Witnesses live there.” So the soldiers said, “Well, we will not go in either because they are respectable people.”

Those who are dedicated to Jehovah and who take their stand squarely for his kingdom are indeed in a blessed position. They wisely identify themselves as Jehovah’s Witnesses before belligerent forces of the world so that the respect that they deserve can perhaps be shown to them by such opposers. This has occurred in innumerable cases in all parts of the earth. In all countries, regardless of the state of the country with respect to armed hostilities, Christian neutrality must be maintained. Every one of Jehovah’s Witnesses confronts the issue in one way or another. Jehovah has made ample provisions for fortifying all spiritually, and we are wise in taking advantage of these.

STIRRING KINGDOM LOYALTY DISTRICT CONVENTIONS

While reports are coming in from many parts of the globe as to the stimulating success of the 1981 district conventions, the report for the United States is now complete: One hundred district conventions were held with the all-time peak attendance of 1,057,237. The number baptized was 8,734. The convention program was most upbuilding, and reports from all parts of the field show the appreciation of Jehovah’s people for this fine spiritual provision.

GILEAD TRAINING EXPANDED

Since 1943, when the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, located in New York State, began training full-time ministers for foreign service, well over 6,400 have graduated. These have been sent to more than 100 countries of the earth.

At the graduation of the 69th class of Gilead School, held in New York on Sunday, September 14, 1980, the announcement was made that an extension of Gilead training would be established at the Society’s branch office in Mexico. This began November 24, 1980, with 24 students enrolled. On Sunday, February 1, 1981, the 24 students graduated and received diplomas. They were assigned to eight countries in Central and South America. There was great joy on the part of all who attended this first graduation of the Gilead Cultural School of Mexico.

The second class commenced February 16 with 23 students. They graduated on Sunday, April 26, to serve in eight Latin-American countries. The third class began May 11 and graduated on Sunday, July 19. These 24 graduates were assigned to seven Central and South American countries. So, all together 71 graduates of the three classes have been sent out as teachers.

During the 1981 service year the 70th and 71st classes attended the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead in New York. The 70th class began October 20, 1980, with 49 students from 10 countries. All 49 graduated on Sunday, March 8, 1981, and were sent to 18 countries. The 71st class enrolled on April 20, 1981, with 27 students from eight lands. These graduated on Sunday, September 13, 1981, and were sent out to 13 countries.

For 1981 we are glad to report that the number of graduates for the New York school comes to 76 and for the school in Mexico to 71, bringing the combined total to 147 graduates assigned to 39 countries. This is the largest total for any one year since 1968. It is most encouraging to see well-trained persons going forth to many lands for the purpose of making known the good news of the Kingdom while there is yet time.

THE MOTIVE THAT IS WORTH WHILE

Jehovah’s Witnesses are active in behalf of other people as they engage in their earth-wide ministry. They are consistent in their stand on issues in whatever part of the world they may be situated, and they are unique in their high regard for the Word of God and their determined efforts to adhere to Jehovah’s requirements and principles. What is their motive? Several things are involved:

There is their recognition of what Jehovah God has done in their behalf, and so out of appreciation for this, they have love for God, and this is strengthened by their appreciation for what Jehovah is now doing and will yet do in their behalf. They know that if a person loves God, he will keep his commandments, and they know that one of his commands is to preach the good news of his established kingdom. Out of love for Jehovah they desire to do what they can to counteract the reproach that has come upon God’s name because of his being falsely blamed for mankind’s troubles and being slandered by false religious doctrines. So, basically it is love for Jehovah that moves his witnesses to continue as his ministers.

Then there is the matter of love for their fellowman, for their neighbor. They desire to put the spiritual interests of others ahead of their own personal convenience, being concerned with the destiny of other humans. So, it is really out of love for neighbor that they go from house to house, make return visits on those who are interested in the Word of God and conduct Bible studies with those who love the truth. This is out of neighbor love, neighbor affection.​—Matt. 22:37-39.

Furthermore, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe God’s Word, and they know that “there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.” They want to sow generously and reap generously.​—Acts 20:35; 2 Cor. 9:6.

Also, their own lives, as well as the lives of other persons, are involved because they do wish to be “clean from the blood of all men,” that is, free of bloodguilt, which would result from failure to warn of the coming judgment.​—Acts 20:26; Ezek. 33:6.

So there are these high motives involved in the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the fact that they are preaching the Kingdom message worldwide is indeed significant. It constitutes a major part of the sign evidencing the establishment of the heavenly kingdom of Jehovah and its progress toward eliminating God’s enemies, so that it might truly bring about God’s purposes in respect to this wonderful earthly home he has made for man.

[Chart on page 24-31]

1981 SERVICE YEAR REPORT OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES WORLDWIDE

(See publication)

Acts of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Modern Times

Jehovah’s Witnesses preach the “good news” today in 206 lands. What a great prophet Jesus Christ was to foresee such global Kingdom preaching! (Matt. 24:14) How the preaching work was started in these various lands has proved to be inspiring reading. In the next 223 pages, consider the lives and activities of many of the persons who shared in starting and developing the Kingdom-preaching activity in the following two countries:

CHILE: The desire to open up the preaching work in Chile grows within a brother pioneering in Argentina. He goes to Chile in 1930, the only Witness in all the land. As he preaches, the first one to respond asks: “And the others, when will they come?” With complete faith in Jehovah, the pioneer replies: “They will come.” And come they did! From 28 publishers in 1939, the Kingdom proclaimers have grown to over 16,000 today!

ITALY: When the Society’s first president, C. T. Russell, visits Italy in 1891, he interests a Waldensian professor in the truth to the extent that he begins to translate the Society’s publications into Italian. During the Mussolini era, the clergy, backed up by Fascist henchmen, do all in their power to crush completely the few Kingdom proclaimers. But Jehovah provides escape. Read how the Kingdom publishers have grown from about 90 at the end of World War II to over 90,000 today! It is one of the most thrilling stories ever told about the acts of Jehovah’s Witnesses in modern times.

Your reading these stirring reports of Christian faith will encourage you to carry on in the ministry that the Lord Jesus has given us​—the preaching of the “good news” worldwide.

Chile

CHILE is a land rich in contrasts! It stretches along the western coast of South America for 2,650 miles (4,265 km)​—more than half the Pacific coastline of the continent. This makes it a land of unlimited variety, from the torrid deserts of the north to the fjords and glaciers of the south. Within this area lie rugged mountains rich in mineral ore, desert plains utterly barren, fertile valleys, forests, myriads of shimmering lakes and isles, and glacial areas hemmed in by a thundering ocean on the west and the formidable Andes Mountains on the east. Its elevation runs from sea level to the flanks of the highest mountain in the western hemisphere, Mount Aconcagua, which towers about 23,000 feet (7,000 m) on the Chilean-Argentine border.

Chile’s northern sector is, more than any other part of the earth, nearly an absolute desert. Why, there are points in the Atacama Desert where not a drop of rain has fallen in 20 years! Yet in the southern part of the country there is an annual rainfall of over 100 inches (250 cm).

Though largely composed of mountains, the country has a central zone where about 67 percent of the people live. It is one of the garden places of the world. The central zone has a climate similar to that of California and favors the growing of fruits such as apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, grapes, figs, oranges and lemons.

In the south of the country is the lake region. Here is found the famous Lago de Todos los Santos, also called Lake Esmeralda. Theodore Roosevelt once called this lake “the most beautiful lake I have seen in all the world.” It lies nestled between mountain peaks, and its emerald-colored waters are disturbed only by waterfalls that plunge down the mountainsides into this placid lake.

In addition to the mainland, Chile has a number of islands: The Juan Fernández Islands are situated 365 miles (587 km) west of the city of Valparaíso. Among these islands is found the famous Robinson Crusoe Island. Easter Island is located some 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from the coast of Chile and its people are of Polynesian origin. Here are found hundreds of monstrous, eyeless stone statues that have long perplexed archaeologists.

Spanish is the language of Chile, and its people are largely of Spanish background, though influenced greatly during the last 100 years by the Germans, the British and the Americans. About a third of the population have mixed Spanish and Indian ancestry. The Indians gave Chile its name, calling the region chilli, meaning “place where the land ends.” That is precisely how it must have looked to early natives as they gazed out at the apparently endless reaches of the Pacific Ocean.

THE “GOOD NEWS” REACHES CHILE

The preaching of the good news of God’s kingdom began in Chile with the arrival of Richard Traub. Brother Traub had learned the truth in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and had dedicated his life to Jehovah in 1925. While he was pioneering in Argentina near the Andes Mountains, a desire grew within him to open up the preaching work in Chile. Brother Juan Muñiz, the then branch overseer in Argentina, agreed that it seemed to be a good idea. Brother Traub was assigned to Chile.

He arrived in Santiago on the evening of April 30, 1930. Of course, there was no one to meet him at the train station, and that night he stayed at a nearby hotel. The next day he rented a room. Brother Traub tried to cash a check that had been given him to help him to get started, but he could not get the money immediately, since the bank had to find out if there were funds to cover the check. In the meantime his money and gifts of food ran out, and our self-sacrificing pioneer brother went for eight days without eating!

Although he had no literature to offer, on May 4, 1930, he began to work from house to house. It was with full confidence in Jehovah and with a true missionary spirit that Brother Traub began his work as the first Witness among the 4,000,000 people living in this land at that time.

The Roman Catholic religion had been the state religion until the year 1925 when a new constitution, separating Church and State, was adopted. While working from house to house, Brother Traub was questioned by the police, but when he explained the nature of his work he had no difficulty whatsoever. He found there truly was freedom of worship.

Brother Traub described his feelings during those early times this way: “Each Sunday as the hour of the Watchtower study drew near I would walk to Mount San Cristóbal and under the shade of the trees immerse myself in study and prayer. Yes, I felt very lonely and had a consuming desire to talk to another brother about the truth, but following my private study I felt strengthened and was filled with the realization that I was not alone. I was ready for another week’s work.”

INTERESTED PERSONS ARE FOUND

While witnessing from house to house, Brother Traub met a God-fearing man by the name of Juan Flores. He accepted literature and asked many questions. At the time he was being visited by the Seventh-Day Adventists. However, after listening to a discussion between them and Brother Traub, Flores decided to study the book The Harp of God.

“Thereafter,” Brother Traub relates, “I rented an apartment and began to invite people to a public Bible lecture and Bible study each Sunday. Juan Flores, the first person who responded to an invitation, asked: ‘And the others, when will they come?’ My answer was: ‘They will come.’” And within a short time they started to come.

In the area called the Quinta Normal, Brother Traub found a man who accepted literature and who then invited him to give Bible talks at his evangelist church. Juan Flores accompanied Brother Traub and listened to him share the Kingdom message with those gathered. They were invited to return. The evangelical preacher was happy because attendance was up and the collection plates full after a visit from Brother Traub. Brother Traub did not agree with the collection plates, so he gave a talk at the church based on John 10:12 and the “hired man.” With that the majority of the churchgoers, among them a young lady, Consuelo Galvez, began to attend the meetings conducted by Brother Traub. In time the evangelist preacher was left alone, his group having disappeared.

Juan Flores invited Brother Traub to live at his home on Concón Street and to use it as a meeting place. (It has since been enlarged, and to this day it is used as a Kingdom Hall.) After a little more than 10 months of activity the time had arrived for the interested ones to be baptized. So Brother Traub wrote Brother Muñiz and asked if he might come for that historic occasion.

On February 13, 1931, the first baptism in Chile was conducted by Jehovah’s Witnesses with Brother Muñiz giving the talk. The eight persons baptized on that occasion were Juan Flores, his wife Teresa, his mother Delfina Villablanca, Juan Castillo, Pedro Ortiz, Roberto Rojas, Margarita Sandoval and another Sister Flores. According to Brother Traub, all eight continued faithful. Sister Villablanca became a pioneer and served as such until her death. Juan Flores helped to organize a small congregation in Illapel. But there was more to come!

On March 29, 1931, five more were baptized, among them Consuelo Galvez, who was to become Sister Traub and his faithful companion until her death. In less than a year 13 were baptized.

Meanwhile, other new ones were taking their stand for true worship. The work in Santiago was taking hold, but what about scattering the seeds of truth in distant places?

ANOTHER ENERGETIC PIONEER ARRIVES

One of the early pioneers to come to Chile was Kathe Palm, and she played a dramatic role in answer to the above question. We will let her tell us something about her zealous work in the Chilean field. Sister Palm writes:

“Hilma Sjoberg sent money to the Watch Tower Society headquarters in November 1934 to pay for a trip from the United States to Colombia by ship. The Society asked me if I wanted to help Sister Sjoberg in South America. What a wonderful provision! So by December I arrived in Buenaventura, Colombia. Sister Sjoberg arrived from Ecuador. We went to Bogotá for about a year and placed cartons of books. Then Sister Sjoberg had to return to Texas. She advised me not to stay alone in Colombia and suggested that I write to a brother who had opened up the work in Chile.

“Finally, the invitation arrived to come to Chile, as Brother Traub’s home was open for a pioneer. The whole country was the territory! How to get there? The best way was by ship, so back to Buenaventura. The port captain told me of a Chilean ship that was to arrive shortly. So the door was opened.

“‘Yes, we will take you,’ said the captain of the freighter. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I will not take the only money you have ($15), although I’ll accept some of those books that you have there. Now go ashore and get your things, and I’ll show you to your cabin.’ After 17 days of a wonderful voyage with lots of witnessing to the crew and a few passengers, we arrived in Chile. Brother Traub was waiting for me at Valparaíso. That was in February of 1936.”

In Santiago Sister Palm especially enjoyed the sight of the snow-covered mountains in the background and an entire avenue of pink Japanese cherry trees in bloom. What scenery! But on with her story:

“The first territory that Brother Traub gave me was the center of Santiago. Here were the government palace, government buildings, all offices and businesses. I placed many books in this territory, often entire sets of all the current books published by the Watch Tower Society. As for the government palace, no one objected in office after office except one, the telegraph communication​—they must not be disturbed. On the last floor I found the palace library. The librarian recognized the books at once and told me the titles of all that he already had, so I left him Vindication, (Book One) in both English and Spanish, as these were the newest then, and he was very pleased to get them. One man even told me that he would like to change places with me as far as government was concerned, for he recognized the far superior value of working for the theocratic government.

“While working the business district in 1936, I met a jeweler with a German name. So I witnessed to him in German and showed him the Vindication book. When he saw Jehovah’s name in it, he turned white and shouted at me to get out of his place, otherwise he would get his revolver and kill me. Shouting, he shook his fist at me and then banged it down so hard on the showcase that he broke the glass and cut his hand! By that time I had my book bag ready and made a prompt departure. Trembling on the street, I went next door to a German art shop. ‘No,’ they said, ‘we do not wish to comment on this man, for we only know that he is a fanatic Nazi.’ Those were the days prior to World War II.”

PORTABLE PHONOGRAPH APPRECIATED

Before the war broke out, Sister Palm relates, Brother Traub was able to get one of the Society’s portable phonographs, with short recorded Bible lectures on 78-rpm discs. How delighted he was with it! “Why,” says Sister Palm, “he even managed to copy the phonograph so that quite a few of the Chilean brothers could have their own Chilean-made model.

“Years later, the second officer of the ship that had brought me to Chile went to the Watchtower headquarters on one of his visits to New York. There at 117 Adams Street he contacted Brothers Fred Peach and Harry Pinnock, who sent me the newest vertical-type phonograph with more records and newer ones too. This one could readily be used at the doorsteps, and, oh, what attention it gained, for nobody had ever seen anything like it! Also the one-hour recorded talks were used on the Santiago radio stations. A few years later they were heard on almost all the radio stations of the main towns of the provinces.”

SPREADING SEEDS OF TRUTH UP NORTH

Brother Traub thought it would be well for Sister Palm to spread the seeds of truth in the northern part of the country. “He assigned me to start working the farthest north in Arica and up the fertile valley of Azapa,” she reports. “So I worked from door to door in each town and always tried, and generally succeeded, to place the entire set of those beautiful, rainbow-colored books in the public library, school libraries and union halls.

“Every mining camp, every nitrate camp, every company town, large or small, as well as big copper- and iron-mining towns, was witnessed to from door to door. It was necessary to have cartons and cartons of books sent ahead to each new address. Almost all my witnessing work was done on foot. I found a saddlebag like one used on burros and would fill it on one side with about 30 books and on the other side with some 150 to 200 booklets. Then I would carry it on my shoulders, using another full handbag of literature for use at each call. It was also necessary to carry a blanket, a toothbrush, and so forth, as one usually found lodging each night where one stopped.

“In Copiapó I found a sulfur mine high on the slopes of the Andes Mountains. Here lived about 30 to 40 workers and the families of the administrator and his assistant. They were surprised to have a woman visit them. How did I ever get there? I happened to find a man who was driving to the mine, and he was glad to take me along. ‘Yes,’ he stated, ‘I will see to it that one of the two ladies up there will give you lodging.’

“Then everybody at the mine told me: ‘We don’t use money here; all our wages are paid to us in the town office when we get our leave.’ So the administrator authorized everyone to take what literature he wanted and just sign his name and the amount on a list. I placed all the literature I had and took orders for much more. This I delivered to the office in town. All the workers seemed anxious to read the publications, and they were ever so pleased with the ‘good news.’”

In 1939 Sister Beta Abbott, who had been serving in Cuba, sent word that she would be coming to Chile. Sister Abbott was assigned to witness to the Americans who were working high up in the copper mine of “El Teniente,” just south of Santiago. She was able to work there only a short time, as the altitude was too much for her. But the town at the base of the mountains, Rancagua, was fine.

There at Rancagua Sister Lucila Reyes offered her lodging in her hotel. She stayed there several years. Sister Reyes and her husband had found the truth a few years before, when Brother Traub explained the “good news” to them. Before this, an evangelical pastor often visited the Reyes family. This clergyman insisted that if they wanted to obey God they had to get rid of all the hotel’s supply of wine (which provided quite a good business). Well, poor Mr. Reyes poured all his chuicos (10-liter jugs) of wine into the sewer! Then Brother Traub came and explained Bible truths. “What!” Mr. Reyes said, “wine is not forbidden?” Oh, that was music to his ears, as Brother Traub proved it with their own family Bible. The Reyes home and hotel were always open for any and all Witnesses.

In 1949 we had a national convention in Rancagua, and Sister Reyes, now a widow, emptied her hotel to have it ready for as many assembly delegates as she could. A “sandwich parade” (a parade of brothers with big placards on front and back advertising the main lecture) was held in the center of Rancagua. There were problems, though, when the school director refused to allow the brothers to use the school’s hall, even though the Ministry of Education had authorized its use for our convention. When Mr. Daniel González, a judge of the appellate court, heard about this, he took a trip to see this director and asked him why some weeks earlier he had authorized a Catholic function in his school’s hall. Being confronted with this fact, he could hardly continue to refuse. A marvelous assembly was held in Rancagua.

Years later Sister Abbott moved to Santiago. Since she had always maintained herself with her excellent sewing, she found it easy to get work from ambassadors’ wives and others in prominent positions. This gave her the opportunity to witness to these people. She often remarked that it must be the hand of Jehovah, because when Witnesses called at these elegant homes, the maids would never let them in to speak with the owners. After many years of faithful service, Sister Abbott died in 1975 at the age of 93.

COVERING THE SOUTHERN REGION

Since the southernmost province of Chile, Magallanes, can best be worked in the summer months, Brother Traub had Sister Palm travel by boat to Punta Arenas. Ten cartons of books were sent there for her use.

In contrast to the dry north Sister Palm now found herself among greenery, rowboats, sailboats, launches, small steamers, islands and more islands. How enjoyable! Finally, after several days of travel through fjord and glacier country, the town of Punta Arenas on the Strait of Magellan was reached. Sister Palm continues:

“Of all the Chilean towns, I always liked it the best. It has no flies, no fleas, no bedbugs and no beggars, and one sleeps more soundly and wakes more refreshed than in any other place I have visited.”

Witnessing in Punta Arenas required having literature in more than the Spanish language. There are many people of Yugoslav descent, and one could find many estancias (large sheep ranches) administrated by Englishmen. The estancias can have as many as 80,000 sheep on 250,000 acres. Till this day it makes for a picturesque scene to see the sheepherders riding their horses, accompanied by their well-trained dogs, against a backdrop of majestic mountains covered with glaciers that come down to the edge of beautiful lakes.

The people in this isolated region of Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales are well known for their friendliness and hospitality. Upon coming to an estancia, one is immediately invited into a large kitchen where a pot of coffee or of a mate (herb drink) is ready along with some bread. At mealtimes there is always a cordero asado (roast lamb) with as much as you want to eat. Much interest was found, and the response to the preaching work was good.

From Punta Arenas one can travel to Tierra del Fuego​—Land of Fire—​the name Ferdinand Magellan gave this island in 1520 while passing through the strait named after him. Sister Palm reached the small town of Porvenir on this island and had the privilege of spreading the seeds of truth in this distant part of the earth. A kind Estonian family gave her lodging for several weeks so that she could visit all the estancias in that region.

BACK NORTH

Winter was approaching, so it was time to head north by steamer. Sister Palm’s return trip took her to Chiloé Island. She writes: “As I went on to smaller ports on the island I found kind people. They always listened and had many questions and wondered how it could be possible to have been lied to for so many years about purgatory and hellfire. They nearly always took some literature.

“Near one small port the priest had managed to spy on my work. So when I did not watch closely enough, one of his dupes stole my saddlebag filled with books, also my handwoven, bright-colored Bolivian blanket. On reporting it to the police, they just shrugged their shoulders. But as I went on that day with what I had in my handbag a man came along the road. He had already heard of the theft and he wanted me to know that he and his wife and others were sorry. ‘Please come with me to my home,’ he said, ‘for my wife has a new blanket for you [handmade, of course] and please spend the night with us.’ So I went. It was an even better blanket; a larger poncho. I bought it at once; it was quite reasonable. I stayed the night with them, answering many of their Bible questions.” (After more than 35 years of use Sister Palm still has her Chiloé poncho.)

Moving north as instructed by Brother Traub, Sister Palm visited Osorno. The governor of this province was pleased to receive her. He showed her the book Government, which he had read and enjoyed. Then he promised that in Osorno no one would hinder our work, and that proved to be true.

On to the province of Valdivia. Here Sister Palm went to the seaport of Corral. She relates: “I found a union hall to play our one-hour lecture ‘Face the Facts’ and the hall was filled with the people I had invited. They even brought some of that beautiful national flower, the copihue, along with fern leaves to decorate the hall. So as to banish the smell of stale cigarette smoke in the hall I got some eucalyptus leaves to burn and it helped scent the air. A young girl went up to the gallery to look down on our decorations and said: ‘Hum, just like Atkinson’s perfume.’ (A famous English perfume in Chile.) Did I laugh! After the discourse the visitors took along their gifts of booklets and magazines and asked when would they hear more of those good things.”

ANOTHER ZEALOUS PIONEER

This account of scattering the seeds of truth along the length and breadth of Chile would not be complete without telling about another zealous pioneer, Theodore Laguna, who came here from the United States. Brother Laguna attended the 1935 convention in Washington, D.C., and heard the stimulating discourses of Brother Rutherford urging the Lord’s people to consider the possibility of carrying the good news of the Kingdom to South America. Brother Laguna was fired with enthusiasm and made plans to move. On arriving in Chile in 1936, he took up the preaching work in the city of Concepción. After several years of pioneering, Brother Laguna married and began to raise a family in the city of Chillán, where he helped the spiritual growth of the congregation there.

These self-sacrificing pioneers, before the arrival of graduates from the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, played an important role in those early days of the preaching work. Many seeds of truth had been scattered from Arica to Punta Arenas and even to Tierra del Fuego. Though lying dormant until more preachers of the “good news” could reach them with additional waters of truth, they were planted and were awaiting the moment to blossom and grow to Jehovah’s praise.

FIRST KINGDOM HALL​—FIRST CONVENTION

In 1944 construction began on the first Kingdom Hall to be built in Chile. A sister donated the property in Santiago, and the brothers went to work with brick and mortar. It was finished in August of that year, in time for the first convention ever held in Chile.

The public talk was “Peace​—Can It Last?” with 250 persons in attendance. Four radio stations carried the lecture, and two of them continued to broadcast the Society’s programs for the rest of the year.

MISSIONARIES AND A BRANCH OFFICE

The first Gilead-trained missionaries arrived in Chile in 1945. They were Brothers Joseph Ferrari and Albert Mann. There were then only 65 publishers in Chile.

The Society had arranged for a convention that was to include the first visit of a president and a vice-president of the Watch Tower Society to Chile, namely, N. H. Knorr and F. W. Franz. On March 25, 1945, the public talk, “One World, One Government,” was given to an audience of 340 persons. Five persons were baptized at this convention.

During his visit Brother Knorr arranged for a branch office to be set up with Brother Joseph Ferrari as the branch overseer. Up to this time the work had been directed from the Argentine branch.

In addition, Sister Palm was asked about taking up the special pioneer work. She responded: “I’ll try, Brother Knorr.” So Sister Palm became the first special pioneer in Chile. After so many years of constantly moving from one place to another with the Kingdom message, she was to settle down in Santiago and learn how to conduct home Bible studies. The book “The Truth Shall Make You Free” had been translated into Spanish and it had a question booklet that helped in this work.

BIBLE STUDY WORK

Shortly thereafter a sister invited Sister Palm to come with her to try to start a home Bible study. “Did I tremble!” recalls Sister Palm. Can you imagine! She had spoken with provincial governors and others in important positions, but now she trembled at the thought of conducting a home Bible study with an interested person!

She continues: “So we went, made the call, placed the book with the family and made arrangements for the Bible study. Thereafter, the children were well prepared for the study, as was the young mother. Only the father refused to share in the study. And so it was that the first person with whom I studied the Bible came into the truth, the children growing up and dedicating themselves to Jehovah as well.

“As I lost my fear of conducting home Bible studies I found that one could get many more studies than one could care for. But we were instructed to spend only half of our time in conducting studies. I enjoy it more than any other kind of witnessing.” Yes, from fear to enjoyment, that is progressing with Jehovah’s advancing organization!

MORE MISSIONARIES ARRIVE

At the close of the year 1945, 10 more missionaries arrived: Louise and Frances Stubbs, Stella Burton, Stephania Payne, Elsa Sutton, John and Louise Baxter, Clara Giza, Lydia Walther and Lola Buntain. Everything was new to them​—the language, the customs and the habits of the people. But they found that with hard work they were able to communicate with the people, who are patient and kindly disposed to help newcomers learn their language.

This group of missionaries had the privilege of setting up the first missionary home at 3004 Lyon Street in Santiago. The branch office was also a part of this home. Since the original congregation was at the opposite side of the city, it was decided to combine the dining and living room areas and form a new congregation. So in 1946 the second congregation was formed in this metropolis of Santiago with its 1,500,000 inhabitants.

FIRST CIRCUIT OVERSEER

In July 1946 Brother Albert Mann, one of the first two missionaries to come to Chile, was assigned as the first circuit overseer in the country. There were just nine congregations, with a total of 93 publishers in such places as Chillán, Concepción, Rancagua, Melipilla, Illapel and Santiago. Brother Mann’s example of faith and devotion has been a wonderful stimulus to many young people, as well as older ones, in the truth.

When he began as a circuit overseer, accommodations were scarce in the small congregations. This meant sleeping in hotels. Sometimes it was a case of trying to sleep, as the barroom or entertainment hall would be noisy all night long. Two weeks were spent with each congregation, allowing time for teaching the brothers organization and, primarily, training them for the field service as publishers of the “good news.”

MISSIONARY WORK IN VALPARAISO

In November of 1946 nine new missionaries arrived. A missionary home was established in the port city of Valparaíso, and the witness work was begun in Chile’s second largest city, which is built on 41 hills clustered, crescent-like, around a broad, open bay. Though aided by the 16 cable cars on different hills, it was tiring work climbing those hills to talk to the people.

One of the first persons to respond to the truth in Valparaíso was Aida Guzmán. She attended the meetings held in the living room of the missionary home in 1948. She remembers that because of a shortage of chairs full cartons of literature were distributed about the room and wooden planks were placed across them to form benches.

Meanwhile, the missionaries were busy. Sister Elsa Sutton, who later married Hollis Smith, found a young man who desired to study the Bible. This young man, Alberto Muñoz, was opposed by his mother, so the study was carried on in one of the public parks. He repeated all he learned to his two younger sisters and also to a neighbor, Sergio González. The girls, in turn, repeated all of it to their mother. Due to the loving persistence of the two girls the mother finally asked for a family Bible study. The son and the two girls entered the pioneer work and later the girls, Graciela and Elena Muñoz, received invitations to attend Gilead School. The neighbor, Sergio González, accepted the truth and he became one of the early special pioneers in Chile.

The work started in Valparaíso by the missionaries has certainly prospered over the years, and now there are nine congregations here.

CONTINUED EXPANSION IN THE CAPITAL

In 1946 four missionaries were assigned to Santiago: Larry and Margaret Laing, Dorothea Smith and Dora Ward. As with all new missionaries, amusing incidents are related with regard to learning the new language. For example, off to the meat market a missionary went one day to ask for a pound of pulpa, or meat. The butcher and others in the shop had hearty laughs when the missionary asked for a pound of pulpo, or octopus!

In 1948 an 11-year-old girl took hold of the truth. This little girl, Gladys Ramírez, worked as a vacation pioneer and enjoyed being trained by the missionaries. She dreamed of the day when she too could be a missionary and so began to study English. Some 10 years later she was able to fulfill her ambition when she was invited to attend Gilead School, graduating in the year 1958. She is still faithfully serving Jehovah as a regular pioneer in the city of Valparaíso.

And what about our dear Sister Palm? She had been assigned to work on the north side of Santiago as a special pioneer. Due to the hard work of the brothers a third congregation was formed in Santiago in 1948. A brother gave up his garage. It was painted and renovated for use as a meeting hall. The Independencia Congregation has grown and been divided many times over; in fact, there are now 12 congregations in that part of the city and 79 in all Santiago. With the formation of this congregation Sister Palm returned to work with the original Quinta Normal Congregation. But, as she relates, she still had a longing for opening up the work in new places, as is evidenced by her following remarks:

“Every Monday I took a day off [to rest? No.] to go out of town, for I missed witnessing in the country. I took a bus as far as it would go and worked the small fruit or vegetable farms all around Santiago, returning late at night, beginning the town territory and studies again on Tuesday. On those Mondays I could place plenty of magazines, also books and booklets, as many as I could carry, and usually come back with my book bag and extra shopping bag filled with fruits and vegetables.

“Sometimes I returned with chickens that Sister Traub always was glad to add to her flock in the hen house. Once I brought a young pig and she was really happy about that! Why? Well, the 1953 New York International Convention was announced, and Brother Traub wanted to go to it. So this pig would grow and be fattened and then sold to help with the travel expenses. Also, Sister Traub bought a lot of very small pullets to raise and sell.

“After some weeks Sister Traub came to my room early one morning with a worried look. Now what? She had found several of the grown broilers dead​—a plague! She came the following two or three mornings to tell me how many more had died during the night. The time to go to New York was much too short to start all over with new pullets, so what could we do now to help our oldest Witness brother in Chile to get to the convention? Sister Traub said to me: ‘Why don’t you write a letter to Brother Knorr and tell him about it?’ That I did. As a result, Brother Traub was called into the branch office and asked how much was lacking. Jehovah made the trip possible, and what a delight it was for him to tell us all about it when he returned to Chile!”

A JUDGE LEARNS THE TRUTH

Meanwhile, the work was growing, and more and more people were being reached with the Kingdom message. In 1946 John Baxter, a missionary who had been in the country for only a few months, contacted Judge Daniel González, president of the appeals court in Santiago. A study was started and this man began to attend meetings. He was very helpful in securing different places to hold assemblies, such as the School of Law of the University of Chile and other schools.

In 1953 Judge González suffered a brain hemorrhage, and for several weeks he was unconscious much of the time. He gave strict instructions to his wife that no priest was to be allowed to see him, only Jehovah’s Witnesses would be welcome. Even prominent Chilean Cardinal José María Caro Rodriguez was denied the opportunity to see him. When he died, Mrs. González asked for a Witness to give the talk at the funeral. There were more than 600 people present, including the minister of justice, members of the cabinet, various members of congress, as well as the president of the Supreme Court. After some of these dignitaries had expressed themselves, one of our missionaries gave a discourse entitled “The Hope of Our Friend, Judge González.” He explained the wonderful hope of the resurrection that Judge González had embraced. An outstanding testimony was given to these high-ranking officials of the government, and many of them talked with the speaker after the discourse, expressing appreciation for the things heard.

BRANCH CHANGES

In 1949 Brother Ferrari, for health reasons, could no longer continue as branch overseer, so he was invited to help with the work in Concepción. Brother Albert Mann took charge of the branch office, a post that he filled for 10 years. He was advised to begin looking for a new location for the branch office and missionary home nearer the center of the city. One was found at 2390 Moneda Street, just a few blocks from the busy center of Santiago.

MORE WORKERS ARRIVE

By the year 1949 there were 25 missionaries working in Chile. The results of their work could be seen in that there were 211 publishers in the country. This was a fine increase from the 65 publishers in 1945 when the first missionaries arrived. But there was still only one Witness for every 20,000 persons, a clear indication of the desperate need for help. The big question in the minds of the brothers was not, “When will Armageddon come?” but “How are we going to get the ‘good news’ preached to all the people before the end comes?”

Help was coming: At the close of the year 20 new missionaries arrived as graduates of the 13th class of Gilead, and what a wonderful lift they proved to be for the organization! Six brothers, John and Harry Williams, Charles Corey, Raymond Tubbs, Daniel Davidson and Boyd Collins, were assigned to work in the city of Temuco. There was not one Witness in Temuco when they arrived, but by August of 1950 there was a congregation of 30 Kingdom proclaimers. A second group of brothers was assigned to the steep hills of Valparaíso. These were Harold Jackson, Dewaine Graber, Robert Knight and George Wilkes.

PRIESTS OPPOSE​—BUT LOSE INFLUENCE

In those days it was still commonly believed that the Bible was a Protestant book and thus prohibited to Catholics. One of the missionaries placed his first Bible in the country with a friendly householder, but later a priest came and tore it up in the face of the people.

At some doors just the mention of the word “Bible” would trigger the response, “We are Apostolic Roman Catholics” and a rapid closing of the door would follow. So we used the term “Sacred Scriptures,” which sounded more like the sacred history taught in the schools, until there was enough interest to explain that this was another term for the Bible.

The Catholic Church had widely circulated in Chile a new Mass book, Oremus. This had a small paragraph stating that the Bible was a Catholic book and should be read by all the faithful. Very few noticed this. So when anyone objected to the Bible, we quickly asked: “But did you read the Oremus?” “Oh, yes,” they would reply. “Then let us see just what it says on page 21.” This method opened many a person’s eyes and the door was kept open.

The Roman Catholic Church in Chile has never really presented violent opposition to our work as it has in other lands. Pamphlets and even a book have been published against us; loudspeakers have been used, but they have never incited the people to riot against us. When they have spoken out against us, it has boomeranged, as the Chilean is a patient and kind person who appreciates freedom of worship. Due to the conduct of the priests some have little respect for what the priests say. This is seen, too, in that very often the people tell us: “I am a Catholic, but I do not believe in the priest” or “I am a Catholic, but in my own way.” These people readily discuss the Bible, and only lack of time limits the number of Bible studies one can conduct.

GROWTH IN CONCEPCION AREA

Of the group of nine missionaries that arrived in 1946, five were assigned to the city of Concepción in the south. They were: Robert and Vora Hannan, Dorothy Brehmer, Willie Brown and Joan Brown. Joan became seriously ill and returned to the United States where she died in 1950, but her faithfulness is remembered by the many people with whom she studied the Bible.

Thanks in great part to the missionaries spearheading the work, the Concepción area had begun to grow. In 1949 Vora Hannan called at the home of Armando Badilla, who happily received the book “The Truth Shall Make You Free.” He told his fellow workers what he was learning in his Bible study. Soon Sister Hannan had two other studies. From these few persons there were later produced seven publishers, three of whom became special pioneers. Brother Badilla progressed to the point of becoming a congregation servant and now serves as an elder in one of the three congregations in Concepción.

There are many problems as well as many joys in the missionary field. Sister Hannan had an anthrax infection and later came down with a high fever. Because of this she was unable to make a return visit on a German lady who had fled Nazi Germany some years before. Notified by Brother Hannan of her condition, the German woman, remembering her first days in a foreign land, immediately visited Sister Hannan and offered to send her doctor to treat her. With the help of this lady Sister Hannan spent two months in a private room in the Regional Hospital, attended by one of the chief physicians, without it costing her one cent. Her illness caused her to lose her hearing and she had to make a new start in the witness work. She found the patience and friendliness of the Chilean people a great help in overcoming her handicap.

After having worked in Concepción for a time, special pioneer Sergio González was assigned to work in the mining town of Coronel. There he found sincere miners who quickly realized the difference between the teachings of the evangelical churches and the more exact teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He urged them to travel the 17 miles (27 km) by train to attend the meetings in Concepción when their work shifts permitted it. Struggling to make a living for their families, these men worked under difficult circumstances, having to travel several miles under the ocean floor to arrive at the mine face, where they were digging coal. Despite their lack of this world’s goods, they made many sacrifices for the Kingdom work. When the congregation in Coronel was formed in 1954, these six brothers paid for the rent of the Kingdom Hall out of their meager earnings and were glad to do so.

COURT CASE PROVIDES BASIS FOR FUTURE EXPANSION

By the year 1952 there was a total of 831 publishers in the 15 congregations in the country. Because of the increasing activity, opposition came from the Seventh-Day Adventists. The Adventists were distributing their magazine El Atalaya, and we were distributing the magazine La Atalaya, and they were arguing that the name of our magazine was similar to that of theirs. Since they had registered their name in Chile, they believed that they had the right to stop the circulation of ours. The following is part of a letter written on February 7, 1952, to a representative of their organization by President N. H. Knorr:

“As I said to you when you called on me here at 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, La Atalaya is published in Spanish, printed in Brooklyn, and circulated worldwide in all Spanish-speaking countries. It has become known the world over among Spanish-speaking people as a publication of the Watchtower Society. The title of your magazine is entirely different. Your magazine El Atalaya means ‘The Watchman.’ The title of our magazine, La Atalaya, means ‘The Watchtower.’ There is certainly a great difference between a man, a human, and a stone structure. I do not see how they can be confused. It is not our fault that the Spanish words look alike; they certainly do not have the same meaning.

“The Society has no intention of changing the name of our Spanish magazine. It is an American publication and may be mailed to any part of the world or distributed anywhere in South America. As I recall our conversation, you have used different names for your magazine in Mexico and other countries. If the matter is confusing, then why don’t you become uniform and use the same title for your magazine all over the world? Of course, I have no right to suggest a change in your magazine. You have the right to use whatever title you want, and you have chosen the title El Atalaya, ‘The Watchman,’ a human creature. La Atalaya, ‘The Watchtower,’ is a stone structure. Certainly Spanish-speaking people do not confuse these two things. Furthermore, the magazines are entirely different in appearance. I believe the intelligence of the Spanish-speaking people is sufficient to discern the difference between the two titles.”

Despite such reasoning with them, the Adventists pressed the matter into the Chilean courts. On March 10, 1953, the trial court’s decision showed that much more was observed by the judges than a difference in name. It was held that the subtitle “Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom” was a distinguishing feature of our magazine. So the court ruled it was not convinced that a fraud had been produced, causing damage to the rights of the Adventists. The case was appealed by them to a higher court, and, on reviewing the case, that court observed that our magazine, La Atalaya, was much older than the Adventist magazine. Therefore, the court upheld the trial court’s decision, giving us a clear-cut victory with our most important Bible study aid.

JOYFUL EXPANSION

Brother Knorr made a visit to Chile at the end of 1953 to attend a district assembly. He also made arrangements for the purchase of the property at 1710 Moneda Street that had been rented in 1951 and that was being used as the branch office and missionary home. Further, he made arrangements to send missionaries out to more distant parts of the country to open up the preaching activity. Much stress was placed upon the special pioneer work so that more local brothers could likewise share in the privilege of going to outlying towns and cities.

Sister Kathe Palm was invited to move to the provinces and was assigned to San Antonio. Many magazines could be placed in this fine territory along the coast, where, in the summer, vacationers enjoyed the sandy beaches and hotels. With the help of two pioneers, Olga Chiffelle and Gladys Ramírez, a congregation was formed in San Antonio in the year 1956. Since San Antonio was a port and the branch had many cartons of literature in several languages, Sister Palm was asked if she would like to find ships with crews that could read some of these languages. She got her authorization card from the port authorities and participated in this different aspect of the work until the end of 1959.

How joyful all the publishers throughout the land were when it was announced in 1954 that the long-hoped-for figure of 1,000 publishers was attained! A peak of 1,018 shared in the field service.

AT LAST​—THE TIP OF SOUTH AMERICA!

It was in 1956 that six missionaries were first sent to Punta Arenas, at that time a city of some 40,000 inhabitants on the Strait of Magellan. Sister Stella Semczyszyn, one of the original group, tells the following story: “We got there in June of 1956. There had just been a flood and the weather was cold and wet. We found a lot of interest in the truth, placing between 60 and 70 books a month. Most of the people had never even seen a Bible, as reading it was prohibited by the priests.

“We started out in a small five-room home with a room set aside for meetings. In March of 1957 the first seven publishers reported. In a little over a year a group of 15 were working with us, and in October of that year we needed a larger missionary home with a larger room for the meetings. Eventually that proved to be too small and we used three of our rooms as a Hall. However, in 1967 the congregation rented another Kingdom Hall and the growth has been marvelous.” Yes, indeed! There are now two thriving congregations with over 200 publishers, and they share their own large Kingdom Hall.

Another city at this southern tip of the continent is Puerto Natales. It is the capital of the district called “Ultima Esperanza,” or Last Hope. Large sheep ranches are located in this part of the country, and the town is populated by workers employed in coal mining on the Chilean-Argentine border. Here there are gale winds that relentlessly sweep across the country. Trees barely grow more than a few feet high and they tilt because of the 60-mile-per-hour (96-km/​h) winds that blow from September to March during the summer season. The plants crouch against the earth in what can be a land of terrifying loneliness.

The Kingdom publishers, however, bend with the wind and keep on preaching. Off and on during the years missionaries or special pioneers have been sent into the area to strengthen the congregation. Sister Palm had originally spread the seeds of truth here in the early 1940’s, and now, thanks to Jehovah and the hard work of many different brothers, there is a congregation with its own pioneers.

WITH THE MISSIONARIES IN CALAMA

In 1957 Sisters Daphne Crum, Olga Rodríguez and Louise and Frances Stubbs were assigned to the northern part of the country. Though there had been no Witnesses in the city of Calama when they arrived, they had 100 persons present at the first meeting held in the missionary home.

While Sister Louise Stubbs was working in Calama, Professor Gallardo, a subscriber for the Watchtower magazine, invited her to teach the religion class in a new school that had been opened. He said to her: “You can use your own books and arrange the course in the way that is convenient for you. What we want is the Bible taught to the students.” She began her course with the book “Equipped for Every Good Work” and later she used From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained. In course of time the local Catholic priest wanted to conduct the class, but Professor Gallardo told him that they wanted the Bible taught, not the Catholic religion, and Jehovah’s Witnesses were the only ones capable of teaching the Bible. Sister Stubbs taught for two years and then Daphne Crum taught for a year, resulting in a marvelous witness in that section of the country. This was one of the ways the preaching work got a firm hold in Calama.

Sister Olga Rodríguez was a member of this group of four missionaries, and the way she became imbued with the missionary spirit is interesting. Her mother, Sister Ana Rodríguez, related: “The principal help that I have been able to give to my daughter has been that of building up in her the missionary spirit. After a year as a publisher following her baptism she entered the regular pioneer work. I urged her to be orderly and to persevere in the service and not remain home when it rained or when it was hot or when she had some little pain. I tried to help her appreciate that the service of God is the most important thing in life.

“Later came her invitation to the special pioneer work, which meant we were to be separated. Many tried to discourage Olga, saying that she had the responsibility to stay home and look after her aged mother. Even some of the Witnesses stated the same. However, I said to her: ‘Are you my only child? Don’t I have five other children who have the same responsibility? Think of the mothers of the missionaries who have come from the United States, Canada and Europe!’ After this conversation she was much encouraged and went on to become not only a special pioneer but also a graduate of Gilead and has been a source of joy and happiness to me.”

The people of the city of Calama and its environs were very devoted to the worship of the virgin of Ayquina. In the desert some 60 miles (96 km) from Calama the Catholic Church built a temple in her honor, and the people go to pay homage to her. The principal holiday is celebrated with special dances. Each group of dancers has a captain who trains his group not only to dance well but also to dance for hours on end in an effort to outlast the other dancers. The music is a simple melody played on a wind instrument and accompanied by the beat of a drum. Each group has its own dress, some Chinese, others Spanish, Indian, Bolivian, and so forth, with their grotesque carnival masks.

When the special day arrives the devotees honor the virgin, paying their vows by pinning money gifts on her dress. Meantime the dancers are in constant movement, each group trying to outlast the other. When the dress of the virgin is covered with money another replaces it. The money is gathered into sacks and the bishop then takes it away in his car. Many former devotees of this virgin are now Jehovah’s Witnesses and are rendering their homage and worship to the living and true God​—not to a man-made image.

A DETERMINED SISTER IN A MINING TOWN

In 1957 Sister Evelyn MacFarlane had the privilege of opening up the work in the mining town of Pedro de Valdivia. On arriving there, she could not find a house or even a room to rent. Instead of becoming discouraged and leaving, she contacted a lady whom she had known in another city and who lived there. Although this woman was not interested in the truth, she permitted Sister MacFarlane to sleep on the floor of her home. She then cooked her meals in the home of another woman who likewise had no interest in the truth.

During the first month of her work Sister MacFarlane started 10 Bible studies on one street. Thereafter, she got them together in order to begin a Watchtower study in one of their homes. Later, with the help of some of the interested ones, she was successful in obtaining the workers’ union hall to use for the meetings. The result was that soon all the meetings were being held, and the new ones were growing in knowledge of Jehovah and his purposes.

Sister MacFarlane wrote: “You can imagine my joy when, though beginning the work in May of that year, I was able to have 25 of the new ones accompany me in the field service the following December 25th!” Shortly thereafter the mining company supplied the building materials and property so a Kingdom Hall could be built.

BROTHERS TO TAKE THE LOAD OF RESPONSIBILITY

During this period some men came into the truth who were to play a remarkable role in the advancement of Kingdom interests in Chile. The names of some of them are Carlos Núñez, Osvaldo Bello, Willy Ramírez, Lucio Ríos and Manuel Wong. These brothers and others such as Ernesto Ots and Sergio Gonzáles have become known practically from one end of the country to the other.

In 1959 Brother Fred Wilson, a Gilead graduate, became the branch overseer in Chile, replacing Brother Albert Mann, who continued to serve his brothers as a traveling overseer. Brother Wilson had given up a promising career as a nuclear physicist to dedicate his life to Jehovah and to enter the pioneer service. At the time that Brother Wilson became branch overseer there were 56 congregations in Chile with a peak of 1,879 publishers.

A MIGHTY EARTHQUAKE SHAKES CHILE

The year 1960 will long be remembered in Chile as the year of the four great earthquakes. Never will the survivors forget the terrible forces unleashed when the earth shook for several minutes with such violence that it was impossible to remain standing. In addition, Jehovah’s Witnesses will remember the marvelous demonstration of love and unity by their brothers, in the face of calamity.

Within a few days after the earthquake, cables, telegrams and letters began arriving at the branch office from all parts of the globe with words of sympathy and offers of help. Several thousands of dollars were received from the Society in New York, from the congregations in Chile and from individuals in other countries. In addition, more than one ton of clothing was sent from Brooklyn to be distributed among the needy ones. Arrangements were made for an equitable distribution of the relief supplies among the families of 500 brothers affected by the quakes.

The branch overseer, Fred Wilson, made a trip to the largest cities affected by the earthquakes and reported the following: “The first stop was in Concepción. The buildings that suffered the worst damage were those of brick and adobe structure. Many wood frame houses had fire walls of brick, and in many cases these caved in on the house, smashing the wooden wall and killing the people. The only known casualty among those associated with Jehovah’s Witnesses was an elderly woman who was studying the Bible. She was a paralytic whose heart succumbed under the tremendous shock of the second earthquake, which lasted several minutes.

“The next day I took the one-hour plane flight south to Valdivia, which was 50 percent destroyed by the earthquake and the terrifying tidal wave. Entire blocks of houses were flattened as though a gigantic hand had dashed them to massive piles of rubble.”

Esther Perkins, one of the missionaries in Valdivia at the time, reported: “We were just preparing to leave for the Watchtower study when we felt a strong tremor, and in 15 minutes more the beginning of a long series of earthquakes rocked the city. Houses began to tumble like a pack of cards. All but four of the homes on our street of 25 houses were destroyed or made uninhabitable.

“The husband of one with whom we were studying had taken his little girls for a boat ride in his rowboat just before the big quake and the resulting tidal wave. The boat was carried to the top of the huge tidal wave that came up the river, and he immediately pushed the two children to the bottom of the boat and tried to guide it to shore. Happily the wave threw them upon the shore. Immediately he snatched the two children and ran to higher ground. He was much more fortunate than many other persons who did not live to tell the story. None of the 26 publishers in the congregation were killed, for which all gave thanks to Jehovah.”

Esther Perkins and Lorraine Selesky, the two missionaries, had the opportunity to leave the devastated area and go to Santiago if they wished, but they wanted to stay and try to help the brothers as well as interested persons in this their time of greatest need. The girls lived in the street for two days and then moved into the garage of the owner of the missionary home. Each day during this period there were as many as 200 to 300 tremors, which kept their nerves on edge.

During those terrible days the sisters tried to find the persons with whom they were studying the Bible. But in some places they could find no sign of the home, in others just a pile of rubble. In still others the home was there but the people were gone. Various persons sought out the missionary sisters to talk to them, asking many questions and a good witness was given. The owner of the missionary home told the sisters: “My wife and I have really appreciated having you here during these terrible days. It seems that you were about the only ones who kept your cool and did not become frantic. It has helped us a great deal.”

In the city of Puerto Montt on Sunday, May 22, 1960, it was a quiet, peaceful afternoon. The people were still talking about the terrible earthquake and the many dead in Concepción. Nothing like that had ever happened in Puerto Montt, but how wrong they were in thinking it could not happen! At two minutes to three o’clock the first evidence came by way of a strong tremor. Then 15 minutes later it began again, but this time they could not even stand on their feet. Houses collapsed before their eyes.

The four young missionary girls had the terrifying experience of seeing the wall of their home fall outward on the street! In the resulting confusion bricks fell on the foot of Sister Elena Muñoz, one of the missionaries, and though she did not realize it at the time several bones in her foot had been broken. Within half an hour the brothers of the congregation arrived and immediately gave the girls the help they needed and took them to their homes. Meantime, the people had fled into the surrounding hills while tremors continued throughout the long night.

LEGAL CORPORATION FORMED

During the year 1960 steps were taken to form a legal corporation of the Society in Chile. In view of the conditions existing in the country it was the wise thing to do in order to buy property for the construction of Kingdom Halls. On September 29, 1960, the Ministry of Justice approved the formation of the legal corporation called “La Comunidad Religiosa Testigos de Jehová” (The Religious Community of Jehovah’s Witnesses). The Chilean corporation permits the Society to enjoy tax exemption and other benefits granted to all religious organizations registered in the country.

The Memorial attendance in 1960 reached an outstanding 5,995! What a remarkable increase since the arrival of the first missionaries, when, just 15 years earlier, there were only 103 persons in attendance at the Memorial!

CHILOE ISLAND

In 1963 special pioneers were first sent to the island of Chiloé, just off the coast of southern Chile. You will recall that Sister Palm visited Chiloé in the early 1940’s. Now the time had finally come for a thorough witness to be given. Sister Evelyn MacFarlane, by this time better known in Chile as Bunny Valenzuela, and her husband had the privilege of working there as special pioneers. This couple searched diligently to find a place to stay without any success, so they decided that if they were going to get the work done they would have to build a little home. Having very little money, they bought just the barest necessities to begin their building. For some time their little place did not have electricity, running water or even windows; but they did have a place to stay and keep warm and, above all, a place from where they could begin their pioneer work.

In this territory they encountered much prejudice, superstition and also spiritism, and the people were under the control of the Catholic Church. The increase began to come, however, and in the first year they had six persons sharing with them in field service. An isolated group of brothers was organized. Since that time congregations have been formed on this beautiful island in Ancud, Castro and Linao.

CONVENTIONS STIMULATE GROWTH

By the year 1965 Jehovah’s people in Chile enjoyed some outstanding increases. Memorial attendance jumped to 9,522 with 21 partaking of the emblems. While the number of publishers had made a fine gain to a peak of 3,758, it was very clear that there was a tremendous work to do since the Kingdom proclaimers in 89 congregations conducted 3,917 home Bible studies.

In January of 1967 Chile’s first international convention was scheduled for Santiago. This “God’s Sons of Liberty” International Assembly brought 300 travelers from the United States, Canada, Central America and Europe, and the Chilean brothers greeted them enthusiastically at the airport, singers and dancers in native costumes putting on a welcome performance.

The convention site was the new Velodrome. Until a few weeks before the assembly its construction was not even completed, and the brothers had to do a gigantic cleanup job so that everything would be in readiness for the opening day of the five-day convention on Saturday, January 7, 1967. The 441 persons baptized represented a greater number of persons baptized than in any one year previously in the history of the work in this land.

The New World Translation of the Bible in Spanish was released at the assembly and the brothers were overjoyed. One overseer wrote: “Thanks to Jehovah and his organization for this marvelous aid. What a joy it is to be able to use the new Bible and its excellent Concordance and Appendix of Texts, etc. Thank you, brothers!” We have never seen a release received with such heartfelt appreciation.

From then on up to and including 1980 the branch office has shipped out 350,000 of these Bibles ​—a clear indication that the Chilean brothers enthusiastically use it and find many people who want to read and study it.

The momentous convention seemed to mark a new era in the expansion of Kingdom interests in Chile. For example, in 1968 a total of 1,034,871 hours were devoted to the field service by the 5,805 publishers. In addition, 15,405 people attended the Memorial; that was nearly three times the number of publishers. There were now seven circuits with 103 congregations; it had been a fine year of activity.

In 1968 the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life was released at the “Good News for All Nations” District Assembly. The 11,369 in attendance at the five district conventions throughout the country got to work, and since the time of its release, up to and including the 1980 service year, the Chilean brothers have placed more than 670,000 copies of this book! It is almost impossible to keep it in stock at the branch office.

A NEW BRANCH OFFICE BUILDING

The year 1968 proved to be a notable year in yet another way. The government notified the Society that property on which the branch office was located was being expropriated to permit the construction of the new Pan-American Highway. In December of 1968 Brother Knorr visited Santiago to select another site on which to build a new branch building. A fine location was found in a quiet residential section situated near the towering Andes Mountains. Thereafter we held a special meeting, and the word spread to all parts of the country so that 4,083 converged on Santiago to hear Brother Knorr speak. During his talk he announced the plans for building a new branch office, and the brothers received this news with hearty enthusiasm.

Early in 1969 word was received that Brother Fred Wilson, the branch overseer, was being transferred to Brazil to serve there in that privilege of service. It was a sad day for many local brothers as hundreds of them went to the airport to bid good-bye to Brother and Sister Wilson who, after 20 years as missionaries in Chile, had become very dear to their Chilean brothers. Gilead graduate Pedro Lovato from Argentina was appointed as the new branch overseer.

The construction of the new branch building began in August of 1969. The Society was pleased to hire brothers to do most of the work so that few outsiders had much to do with the building. In all, 35 brothers worked on the structure. In addition, the congregations in Santiago were invited to contribute their time and talents to forward the construction, and they responded in a fine way. For example, La Cisterna Congregation hired a bus to bring the brothers of the congregation to the job site, where the sisters set up a field kitchen so the brothers would have a good meal and be able to work all day. The volunteer workers devoted a total of 3,124 hours to the construction.

The building, set back 35 feet (11 m) from the street, is a white, two-story structure with a wide flagstone entrance flanked by spacious lawns. The front of the building is partially faced with a green tile that softens the startling brilliance of the white cement. The main entranceway is framed in dark marble that stands in sharp contrast with the aluminum framed glass doors and presents a pleasing contrast.

The dedication of this building took place on November 21, 1970, with 255 persons in attendance. In his dedication discourse the branch overseer, Pedro Lovato, showed that a building in itself is not the important thing; rather, it is the use to which the people put the building that is valuable in the eyes of Jehovah. The building has a lovely spacious Kingdom Hall, sufficient facilities for the office and shipping department, as well as living quarters for 16 persons.

VISITING SHIPS IN VALPARAISO

Early in 1960 Sister Palm was transferred from the seaport of San Antonio to the main port city of Valparaíso. She witnessed aboard ships in the mornings, and in the afternoons she worked with groups from house to house and conducted Bible studies. She recalls:

“I had received several cartons of foreign literature from the Society, among which were English Bibles. I wondered how these could be placed. Then an African ship came in from Ghana with the entire crew from that country. On that ship everyone was anxious to get an English Bible. They all spoke English besides their own Ewe and Ga, so I had to go back three times and even asked a young sister to help me carry more than 30 English Bibles aboard. In addition I placed subscriptions for The Watchtower and Awake! with the first officer. What a blessing for them as well as for me!”

After 35 years of pioneering in many parts of Chile, she met the former second officer of the ship that originally brought her to Chile in 1936. He had become an independent shipowner now and mentioned that he was glad to see her, for he had thought of her recently. How? Why? “It seems his ship travels in the Puerto Montt region and he needed a captain, a man he could trust,” she explains. “One was found and on asking for his recommendations he was told, ‘Oh, this man is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.’ That was the very best recommendation one could have, the man said. ‘If you have not done anything else Kay,’ he continued, ‘in all your years of Watchtower work in Chile I have at least this good man because he is a witness of Jehovah, one to be trusted.’” You can imagine how our sister felt upon hearing those words! Yes, her heart was overflowing with thanks and gratitude to Jehovah!

The thrilling story of this dynamic missionary continues. She is now 78, yet she zealously carries on in her theocratic activity. Although handicapped by a bad leg because of a fall in the hills of Valparaíso, during the 1980 service year she averaged 132 hours, 168 magazines, 56 return visits, 5.6 studies, and placed 24 books each month. Her astonishing energy along with her unconquerable faith and devotion have been a source of encouragement to all who know and love her. What a privilege for the first missionaries, where circumstances permitted them, to remain in Chile along with the earliest publishers and to observe the wonderful growth abundantly blessed by Jehovah!

A MARXIST GOVERNMENT COMES TO POWER

The year 1970 got off to an excellent start with 19,850 attending the Memorial, and we reached a new peak of publishers in April with 7,422​—twice the number of publishers just five years previously!

In September of 1970 the Christian Democratic Party was removed from power with the election of the Unidad Popular, a combination of several political parties. With the nationalistic cry, “Chile for the Chileans,” the new Marxist government fully nationalized the large copper mines that had been controlled by foreign investors; landowners had their large farms expropriated and turned over to the poor people. Some of the poor grew impatient and with the force of arms drove the owners off their farms and took over the property. Many vacant lots in the cities were taken over unlawfully by people simply erecting a Chilean flag on them and then building a little house.

As could be expected, the wealthy class of people were bitterly opposed to the Marxist government, and many left the country; still others were ready to leave. Strenuous efforts were made to fight the changes and this led to violence and bloodshed.

While groups were moving to opposite poles in the political realm, Jehovah’s people maintained a neutral course. Tempers were growing to the danger levels, and hate and fear were beginning to make themselves felt in this once tranquil country. Yet, amid these turbulent times the work of directing people to the Kingdom continued to gather momentum. For example, the following year saw a new peak of 22,918 at the Memorial and a 13-percent increase in publishers, with an average of 7,810.

THE ARAUCANIAN INDIANS

Numbered among these publishers were newly baptized ones of the Araucanian Indians. The Araucanians were supposedly the fiercest and most valiant fighters that the Spanish conquistadores had ever met. Spanish historiographers say that the conquest of these Indians cost more in time, blood and money than that of the rest of South America. Only after two centuries of continual fighting were the Spaniards able to subjugate the Araucanian chiefs and warriors. The conquering weapon was not firearms but, rather, the white man’s vices. These so corrupted the Indians that they were totally demoralized, losing their will to fight.

Many thousands of Araucanians still live according to their own social laws on the reservations set aside for them by the government. In appearance they look very much like the Eskimos, but their origin has never been satisfactorily traced. They have no written alphabet of their own, so their religious beliefs are not very definite. Generally they believe in the immortality of the soul and reincarnation. Interestingly, they have their own legend about a global flood and the survival of a few.

There are a number of these people who are adjusting their lives to live in harmony with the standards of the Bible and are dedicating their lives to Jehovah. These are attending the Temuco Congregation. We sincerely hope that these new brothers and sisters show the same tenacity of spirit and valor as their forefathers, not in fighting anyone of blood and flesh but, rather, in fighting the god of this world, Satan the Devil, and his demon forces by proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom.

KINGDOM PREACHING DURING POLITICAL UNREST

The election of the Marxist government and the subsequent events caused an earthquake of sorts, shaking up many people and softening the barrio alto, or upper-class, section of Santiago. Whereas many of the economically impoverished people were looking to Salvador Allende to solve their problems, many sincere people at the other end of the socioeconomic scale began to wonder where their future lay. They had labored and sacrificed for years, and now all was being threatened. Could there be something better than material possessions to provide a secure future? Satisfying answers were provided by energetic preachers of the “good news.”

To illustrate the growth in the barrio alto, in September of 1971, there were six congregations with territories in that part of the city, and in that month 324 publishers reported activity. There are now 11 congregations and they recently reported 990 publishers​—a 206-percent increase!

Not only were the verbal accusations and political violence becoming everyday events, but long lines were common as people searched for food. Many housewives had to spend an average of three hours a day, sometimes as much as six hours, to buy bread and other food for the family. How did our sisters react to this time-consuming situation?

Some made it a habit to take literature with them, either for personal reading or for use when doing informal witnessing. In one block-long line a lady was complaining about having to lose so much time. A sister nearby commented that man is not able to solve his problems and proceeded to share the Kingdom message of hope. Since she manifested interest, the sister made arrangements to visit her at her home and in time a study was started. Now this woman is an active publisher and her daughter is a regular pioneer.

Many sisters, well known for their preaching activities and respected for their conduct, were saved from the daily trip to the lines because friendly store owners would let them know what product would be on hand and when. Many are the heartwarming experiences that could be related about our zealous sisters who took advantage of the difficult situation to give a Kingdom witness.

The year 1973 brought runaway inflation reaching 330 percent, crippling strikes, food shortages and violence. In the years before the election of the socialist candidate as president, the growth of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Chile had been quite rapid, with increases of 20 percent, 16 percent and 17 percent. Following the election, the growth tapered off with increases of 13 percent, 9 percent and 6 percent. However, as has been mentioned, during this time the barrio alto began to grow.

On the other hand, many humble people caught up in the enthusiasm of the Unidad Popular had their attention directed away from God’s kingdom and to man’s efforts. Many religious leaders even encouraged them to that end. For instance, in April of 1971, 80 priests stated their position in favor of the “participation of Catholics in the construction of socialism.” The religious leaders of the country endorsed the policies of the new government, one saying, “the Kingdom that we hope for begins to take form here, and one of its pillars is justice.” Even prophecies of the Bible book of Isaiah were applied to the new political regime. But would they see their dreams realized?

A SUDDEN CHANGE

The answer came on September 11, 1973, when the Armed Forces toppled the Marxist government. For almost all of us who had never been in a war zone, the revolution was quite an experience. Many brothers unsuspectingly had gone to work early that morning. The Bethel family was busy at work and the missionaries were preparing to go into the field when helicopters flew almost directly over the branch. Looking up, we were surprised to see their doors open with machine guns ready for instant use! “What’s going on?” someone asked. With that a radio was turned on, and the announcement was heard that the Armed Forces were taking over to end the years of hate and fighting among Chileans. Everyone was warned to stay at home and off the streets. There was some heavy fighting in the center of town and in the poorer sections located on the outskirts of Santiago. Needless to say, the missionaries here at the branch became temporary Bethel workers until things cooled down. And what about the brothers who had left to go to different factories early that morning?

Some were arrested and with groups of suspected leftists taken to the National Stadium in Santiago for interrogations. It proved to be a protection to identify oneself as a Witness, for they were among the first to be released.

There is some evidence that extremists had been planning a drastic move before the military takeover, and among those to be eliminated were Jehovah’s Witnesses. If that be the case, we give thanks to Jehovah for his marvelous protection!

During the tense days following the takeover, our well-known neutrality proved to be a blessing and a protection. When the arrest of Communist activists in factories and industries left critical vacancies, Witness employees were often put in key positions. In one case, on the morning of the coup, soldiers arrived at the home of a Witness and asked how long it would take him to put the local oil refinery into operation. No other qualified man could be trusted!

Spot searches for firearms and the like were made in neighborhoods at the break of dawn. Often, known Witness homes were simply passed by. One soldier, taking the publication The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life out of a bookcase, commented: “If everyone read and practiced what is in this book, we would not have to make these searches.”

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

For several months thereafter people were still a bit edgy, and there were sporadic outbreaks of violence. In this environment plans were being made for the “Divine Victory” International Assembly. Though a contract had been signed for the use of Santa Laura Stadium in Santiago, would such a gathering be permitted? Since a state of siege had been proclaimed in September, almost all large meetings were forbidden. Such a gathering at this time would be practically a miracle. But the hand of Jehovah was not too short!​—Isa. 59:1.

As the date for the convention approached, the apprehension increased. Then one week before the convention we learned that permission had been denied. Immediately two brothers went to the Ministry of Defense to explain the arrangements that had been made for the arrival of many foreign delegates, and what a poor impression they would have if such an international convention was not permitted. A colonel then took the problem to his superiors and returned with the answer: “Permission granted!” Our prayers had been answered!

None of the brothers wanted to miss what would prove to be Chile’s biggest convention ever. To finance their trip from the dry and barren north or from the glacier-spotted wilderness in the south, many Witnesses sold furniture, television sets, record players, and so forth.

As mentioned earlier, Chile has a coastline that stretches some 2,650 miles (4,265 km) along the Pacific Ocean, so travel by bus or train makes for a long trip. From Iquique in the Atacama Desert 1,300 Witnesses, including children and babies, came in a special eight-car train. The trip was slow and tiring, but after four and a half days of travel​—much of it through the hot desert—​the grueling journey was completed, that is, almost completed. The train arrived just as the evening curfew was to begin, so the brothers would have to remain in the train for the night!

When the reception committee went to the train station earlier in the day to meet them, they were advised that the train would be late. Knowing that this would mean another night in the train for the brothers, arrangements were made to prepare coffee, purchase boxes of fruit, obtain blankets and make sandwiches. That night 48 brothers volunteered to remain at the Mapocho train station to attend to the arriving brothers. This, of course, was done with the authorization of the military authority supervising the train station. In fact, they were so impressed by the arrangements made that they lent a helping hand. Normally when a train arrived late, the unruly crowd refused to obey the curfew, so the soldiers were accustomed to firing their rifles into the air and then forcing the insulting crowds back into the railroad coaches for the night. In this case with a train full of Witnesses there was no need to shout or repeat an order. One soldier commented: “Jehovah’s Witnesses have demonstrated that they are correct and orderly people.”

The next morning after the delegates had had another round of coffee the brothers from congregations in Santiago came to the train station to take them to their rooming accommodations. How grateful the delegates were for the loving-kindnesses extended to them, and for the willingness of their brothers to spend the night in that cold, dark train station! Truly a fine example of self-sacrificing love in action!

The long-awaited day was at hand, and the foreign delegates, among them Brother Knorr, arrived. Enthusiasm was running high. What an encouragement it was for the brothers and for the new ones who symbolized their dedication to Jehovah with water baptism​—1,502 of them! Attendance was the highest for any one convention site​—21,321! We thank Jehovah for opening the doors and making it all possible.

RAPID GROWTH RESUMES

The events in Chile during 1973 illustrated the point of Psalm 146:3 about not putting our trust in “earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs.” Those who had put their trust in their now dead president were left disillusioned and without hope. Thanks to Jehovah and the energetic work of his people many right-hearted ones accepted the message of the Kingdom as mankind’s only hope and took a stand for true worship.

In October of 1973, just one month after the change of government, Chile passed the 10,000 mark in publishers for the first time with 10,119. Then came our international convention and with it momentum for future increases, for we finished the service year with a 22-percent increase and an average of 10,962! Thirty-two new congregations and two new circuits were organized with a peak of 12,491 publishers and a total of 2,660 baptized. In the following year the increase was even larger​—30 percent, with an average of 14,220 in the field. An amazing number of 3,842 were baptized!

The rapid growth and the favorable comments on our well-publicized conventions did not escape the notice of our religious enemies who became more active. They began to work behind the scenes, using their peculiar relationship with Caesar to their advantage. We were accused of being infiltrated by Communists, and on more than one occasion we had to demonstrate that it was not so and explain the “screening” process that one goes through before baptism. This seemed to satisfy the authorities and the matter was apparently shelved​—but not forgotten.

When Brother Knorr visited us for the international convention he had given us the green light for a small printing operation. Prior to January of 1975 we had been receiving the Kingdom Ministry and Written Reviews from Argentina, but due to the heavy snows in winter in the Andes Mountains, many times during the year they would be received too late. Now we had our own printery to supply the brothers’ needs in the way of forms, handbills, programs, copies of Kingdom Ministry and Written Reviews.

CONVENTION AT NATIONAL STADIUM

Back in 1949 when Brother Knorr visited Chile at the time of a convention, Sister Digna González had jokingly asked why we did not use the National Stadium. Now, much to her delight, the time had come to do just that. In January of 1976 we had the privilege of using the stadium for the “Divine Sovereignty” District Assembly, and 15,619 from the greater Santiago area attended. Due to the end-of-year play-offs among the professional soccer teams, we were advised that we would have to close the sessions at an earlier hour so the games could take place in the evenings. We accomplished this without difficulties. Commented one of the Santiago daily newspapers: “Jehovah’s Witnesses in a matter of three hours had to get everything out of the stadium and then put it all back. There was no problem whatsoever, because everyone collaborated without difficulties and they accomplished the miracle of changing the playing field to a religious site and vice versa.”

INFLATION RESULTS IN NEW CURRENCY

All during this period inflation spiraled. To illustrate: In August of 1970 one U.S. dollar was worth 14 escudos in Chilean currency; just five years later one U.S. dollar was worth 6,000 escudos! In September of 1975 the government converted 1,000 escudos to one peso in the new Chilean currency, establishing the official exchange rate at six pesos to the U.S. dollar.

MARVELOUS EXPANSION

In spite of hardships caused by inflation and increasing unemployment, enthusiasm for sharing the “good news” continued. During the 1976 service year an all-time peak of 16,862 publishers was reached with 2,782 baptized. While the number of publishers was growing tremendously, obviously it was not so easy to develop elders at the same pace. In September of 1972 there were 131 congregations and in just four years that number grew to 269​—more than double! Due to the formation of new congregations, many that once had three or more elders now had one or two with almost the original number of publishers.

Yet, things were moving smoothly with new peaks in publishers, new congregations and circuits being formed, circuit assemblies and district conventions being held with total attendances that surpassed 30,000, and the highest ever Memorial attendance with 46,940. Obviously, Satan was not pleased by all this theocratic expansion, so the “roaring lion” began to do his best to frighten the newly gathered “lambs.”

OPPOSITION TO THE WORK SURFACES

Before our summer months of December through February, plans are made for the district conventions. All was progressing well until word was received that the military authorities would not give permission for a small assembly for the three isolated congregations located near the Strait of Magellan at the tip of South America. But in view of the fact that the brothers enjoy a good reputation and that a colonel personally knew several Witnesses, the general permitted the assembly. He gave nothing in writing, however, and requested that there be no publicity.

After that, district conventions were held in the provinces without difficulties. Soon the zone overseer would be with us, and plans were made for him to give a talk at the Velodrome, attended by all the congregations of the greater Santiago area. At the last moment we were caught by surprise when permission was denied. We appealed the decision, to no avail.

Then the military authorities canceled the district convention we were to have at Santa Laura Stadium; they stated that no large meetings were being permitted because of the state of emergency. They denied our appeals and our attempted interviews. What could we do not only for the brothers in the 100 congregations in and around Santiago but also for the brothers from Argentina who had arranged to travel to Chile to take in the assembly program?

We quickly made arrangements for the four-day program to be reduced to two days with about 70 percent of the material to be presented in eight of the larger Kingdom Halls in Santiago. More brothers were assigned talks so that we could have four groups of speakers rotating among the halls. Only publishers were invited due to the limited space, and after five weekends, 10,209 had attended. The Kingdom Halls had been packed! Many were the expressions of appreciation for the hard work done by so many to present the program, dramas and all!

Thereafter the authorities refused to grant any permission for circuit assemblies in the Santiago area, so we made arrangements for one-day programs containing about 90 percent of the information. We asked the brothers to travel outside the capital, and because of the limited number of facilities, we would have one circuit on Saturday and another on Sunday.

This procedure produced fine results from 1977 to June of 1980. Then two places that previously had authorized assemblies now denied permission. So two Santiago circuits have had to plan their circuit assembly programs in the larger Kingdom Halls within their circuits. Although this creates extra work and some inconveniences, the important thing is that the brothers receive the spiritual food prepared by the “faithful and discreet slave.”

The Ministry of Justice then requested that the directors of the local corporation appear for an interview. For the most part the interview dealt with the neutrality issue. There was a somewhat antagonistic and tense atmosphere during most of the interview, but when the opportunity was provided and the Bible was used in response to inquiries, the atmosphere changed from one of hostility to one of respect.

As a result of that interview and a subsequent written statement explaining our neutral position, no further action was taken. Thanks to Jehovah our enemies had been thwarted!

GOOD COUNSEL FROM THE GOVERNING BODY

We can preach the “good news” and meet in our Kingdom Halls without interference, and we are thankful for that blessing. Of course, the matter of meeting in larger groups continues to be a problem. But thanks to Jehovah and the fine counsel given to us by the Governing Body with regard to “acting with discretion,” our spiritual paradise continues.​—Ps. 47:7.

For example, at the time Brother M. G. Henschel was with us on a zone visit in 1979, Kingdom Halls were closed for a brief period in such places as Vallenar, Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales. We were counseled to be “cautious as serpents and yet innocent as doves” and not to make an issue of the matter until we had exhausted all possibilities. (Matt. 10:16) It was not long before the local officials were changed or forgot the matter, and now all the congregations are functioning as before.

In fact, with the change of a general in Punta Arenas, the brothers requested an interview. When the brothers explained that they had been denied permission to have their meetings in the Kingdom Halls and that discussion with the previous general had not been conclusive due to his transfer, the new general responded favorably. When told that, in harmony with Romans chapter 13, the authorities would have no problem with Jehovah’s Witnesses, he replied: “Yes, I know them quite well and I know that they are very good citizens. If you would like, I see no reason why you can’t begin having your meetings immediately.”

The surprised brothers replied with a grateful sí and requested that the same permission be granted to the congregation in Puerto Natales. Request granted​—and just in time for the Memorial. What a joy to have 448 present in Punta Arenas for that important celebration in 1979! Since that time the brothers have even had the privilege of holding circuit assemblies and district conventions in their new Kingdom Hall.

When the problems started in 1977 it was difficult to find appropriate assembly sites. It was then in the province of Valparaíso that Jehovah opened the door for us. A brother approached the mayor of a city where there was a small stadium just right for our assembly program. The mayor agreed, and because the brothers left the site in excellent condition, we have had several assemblies at this same place.

A DECREASE IN PUBLISHERS

When our problems first started there were many rumors among the brothers. Perhaps due to these difficulties and the fear of man, along with the economic pressures of continuing inflation, many began to slow down. In 1977, for the first time since 1942, there was a decrease in the number of publishers, with a drop from 15,947 to 15,339. What could be done to meet these challenges and encourage the brothers to keep growing in faith and to make expression of it?

BRANCH ORGANIZATION STRENGTHENED

The Governing Body advised all branches on December 10, 1975, of new organizational arrangements that would be patterned after the six committees of the Governing Body. The resulting Branch Committees began to function on February 1, 1976. The Chilean Branch Committee appointed by the Governing Body was one of international flavor: one Argentinean (Pedro Lovato), one Canadian (Thomas Jones), one Chilean (Fernando Morrás), two Americans (Albert Mann and Richard Traverso).

Regrettably, late in 1975 Brother and Sister Jones had to return to Canada to check into the poor health of Sister Jones, only to discover that she had a terminal illness. Our dear sister Flora died in February 1976, after 41 years of dedicated service to Jehovah. Brother Jones remained in Canada and is now a member of the Canadian branch family. They had been in Chile since 1964 and had accomplished a wonderful work, gaining a warm spot in the hearts of their Chilean brothers. Another Chilean brother, José Valiente, was appointed to take the place of Brother Jones. Among the five current members of the committee there is a mixture of youth and experience with a total of 131 years of dedicated service to Jehovah.

BIBLE TRUTHS PRODUCE GREAT CHANGES

During this period of great influx in Chile, especially since 1973, people of all sorts were coming into the truth: university students, nuns, spiritists, disenchanted political people and a soccer star, to name a few. All had to make changes in their lives to please Jehovah and meet his standards.

For example, a soccer star and captain of his team gave up the fame that the world offered for the joy that Jehovah gives those who serve him. At first the directors of his professional team were pleased with his studying the Bible because his conduct improved and he was no longer an undisciplined player often evicted from the game. But when the moment finally came for him to hang up his shoes in the locker room for the last time, they were not pleased. Even so, when they were finally convinced of his determination, they offered to make his last game “his game” and honor him as an excellent player. He politely refused such honors, got baptized and now serves as a ministerial servant in one of the congregations in Rancagua.

What a privilege it is to work with these brothers from such different backgrounds! And how encouraging it is to see how Jehovah is using these and others to reach people of similar background!

DOCTORS AIDED BY “BLOOD” BOOKLET

One of the highlights during the 1978 service year was the distribution of the tract and booklet on the blood issue. One missionary wrote that several doctors admitted that they always give blood to Jehovah’s Witnesses, although they tell them otherwise before the operation. The booklet was just what we needed for them with its arguments about ethics and the need for trust between doctor and patient. They were pleased to have more information on the subject.

Another missionary reports what one surgeon told her: “I am totally in agreement with you. I congratulate you for your position. In the past we have made much use of transfusions, but each day we are using them less.” Numerous were the expressions by doctors, such as: “Just what we needed.” “This really interests me.”

“VICTORIOUS FAITH” CONVENTIONS

The “Victorious Faith” International Convention made the year 1978 even more outstanding. Thanks to the generosity of our brothers worldwide the missionaries and other full-time ministers were to attend that faith-strengthening convention. There were 99 delegates from Chile who traveled to the United States or Europe, and another large group traveled to Lima, Peru. Many were the enthusiastic comments about the program and the love of the brothers. Yes, what a privilege to belong to this international family of true worshipers!

Since the authorities would not allow us to have an international convention in Chile, in January of 1979 we began a series of small district conventions with the same theme. The cost of hotels is beyond the means of most of our brothers, who have perhaps already made great sacrifices to be at the convention site, so the majority of the delegates stay in the homes of their spiritual brothers.

At one convention the rooming department was having some difficulty finding enough accommodations, so the convention committee made arrangements to give brief talks in the congregations to stimulate the brothers in the way of hospitality. After giving an enthusiastic talk the speaker asked for a show of hands to see how many could offer rooms to the visiting delegates. No hands went up. After a pause, a young boy about seven years of age raised his hand and offered to give up his bed so that a married couple could have his room. That melted the ice so that a flood of offers came in. In fact, when the rooming work was finished, it became evident that of all the congregations that offered rooms, this congregation offered the most.

ANOTHER YEAR OF SIFTING

As in 1978, the 1979 service year saw a further decrease as those who had not taken steps to nourish their faith regularly from the Word of God tired out. Apparently a sifting work was being accomplished among Jehovah’s people, for even though many new ones were being baptized, there were no numerical increases. In the three years of decrease 3,357 were baptized. Obviously there was a great need to help the new ones to become stabilized in the faith.

PROSPECTS BRIGHTEN

As we moved into the 1980 service year things began to look up. In October of 1979 we were permitted to hold the Annual Meeting of the local corporation for the first time since 1976. What a joy it was to share in the meeting with mature brothers who traveled from afar to be here!

Then came the summer months of January and February and our “Living Hope” District Conventions. We had a very good total attendance figure of 25,544. As the months moved on, from all appearances we were getting back on the right track. For the service year we had a 5-percent increase, averaging 15,081. In addition, a new all-time peak attendance at the Memorial celebration was attained with 50,508 (only to be surpassed in 1981 with 54,796 in attendance)!

REACHING THE ENDS OF OUR TERRITORY

Chile has an extensive territory that includes Easter Island and Robinson Crusoe Island in the Pacific Ocean. Is the good news of the Kingdom reaching these faraway places also?

For a time we had an isolated publisher on Easter Island. She was helped spiritually through correspondence with a missionary sister at the branch. Though she has since returned to the mainland, we do have record of Watchtower subscribers on the island. Much to our surprise, in April 1980 we received a long-distance telephone call from an interested person wanting to know when to celebrate the Memorial. Then later on in the same year a married couple from Valparaíso moved there, and they have been conducting Bible studies with interested persons. In April of 1981 a Memorial meeting was held on this island for the first time, there being 13 persons present. How pleased we are that the “good news” is penetrating this isolated area!

And the famous Robinson Crusoe Island? An elder from Valparaíso was sent to this island in connection with his secular work toward the end of 1979. He took along a good supply of literature. While on a tour of the island, he asked the guide about the religious inclinations of the people. The guide replied that the Catholic priest comes only once in a great while and the Protestant minister had left permanently. “But that doesn’t affect me,” he explained. “I’m one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Can you imagine the surprise of our brother? He thought that he was going to be the first to bring the “good news” to this island.

The story goes like this: A lady was studying in Santiago when she moved to the island because of her secular work. While in Santiago she had progressed to the point of sharing in the field service. She continued sharing the “good news” there on the island, starting Bible studies with a number of people. Our brother was overjoyed to meet them and to help them arrange a book study group, as well as organize an informal arrangement for gathering together in a group of five to read the one copy of The Watchtower that was being received.

Several expressed a desire to be baptized, so Brother Sergio Pulgar, upon returning to the mainland, wrote to the branch for instructions, since he would be returning to the island about five months later. When he returned he reviewed the 80 questions with the candidates and three were baptized. He also conducted the Memorial with 11 in attendance. Since March of 1980 we have been receiving field service reports from this isolated group, and there are currently four reporting.

While talking about the far ends of our territory let’s not forget the Antarctic. Yes, the “good news” has reached that far end of the world. An electronics expert was sent to work at a scientific base located in that frigid region. While preparing his suitcase, his wife slipped in a Bible and a Truth book. The base consisted of 12 men completely isolated from the rest of the world and the only recreation was reading. After a few days the husband took out his literature and began to read. Passing by, another member of the base exclaimed: “Hey, I know that book, too!” The two men formed a friendship and were together at every available opportunity to study the Bible. Through them Bible literature in Russian was placed at another nearby scientific base. One of these two men is now a ministerial servant in a Santiago congregation. No matter how distant or isolated the place, the powerful “good news” is penetrating those regions with its message of hope.

NEW BIBLE AIDS​—A GREAT SUCCESS

The brothers in Chile have had some remarkable experiences with the book My Book of Bible Stories. One has to do with a special pioneer from the south who, while in Santiago, came to the branch to pick up a few copies to take back to her assignment. Since she arrived at the branch just as it was closing, she took the eight books without having them wrapped. With the books in her arms, she got on a bus. A child saw the books and cried out to his mother: “That lady has the book you said you would buy for me. Tell her to give you one!” The mother inquired about it, and the sister gave her a witness and placed the book with her. Those seated nearby overheard the conversation and asked to see the book. Before even getting off the bus, the sister placed all eight books! So before returning to her assignment she went back to the branch for more copies​—this time having them well wrapped.

Another sister placed a Bible Stories book with a lady who, in turn, lent it to her son’s schoolteacher. The schoolteacher then phoned the local congregation and asked if someone could bring her two copies of the book. This was done. The schoolteacher showed the book to her priest who stated that this was just what was needed to teach the children the Bible. She took the recommendation seriously, telephoning to ask for seven more books. The sister who delivered the books to the school, while waiting, talked to another lady who commented on the violence in school. Our sister talked to her about the Bible’s solution to the matter. With that the lady asked the secretary to make an appointment for our sister to return and talk to her. The lady was the school director.

Our sister returned for her appointment with the director, as well as to deliver another 14 books. Before meeting with the director she spoke with five schoolteachers. They requested 24 more copies and five Youth books. One of them asked: “What do you have for me?” She subscribed for the Awake! magazine. On to the director. There the sister placed two Bible Stories books and one Youth book. She later returned with the requested 24 copies, and, once again, was asked if she could bring another 14 the following week. The first schoolteacher is now studying with our sister during her lunch break. So far 88 Bible Stories books and 27 Youth books have been placed with the schoolteachers for use in teaching religion, and the experience continues as the word spreads about these books.

Energetic pioneers and publishers, such as the aforementioned, have taken part in an extensive distribution of our Bible literature, as is evidenced by the total number of books placed during the 1980 service year: 264,317! Self-sacrificing pioneers have used these publications to open up new territories and establish the foundations for future congregations in such places as Carahue, Fresia and Panguipulli. What a pleasure to put to use ‘every good thing that Jehovah has equipped us with to do his will’ as we unitedly work to expand our spiritual paradise!​—Heb. 13:21.

FAITHFUL SERVANTS STICK TO THE WORK

As we progress into the 1982 service year, it is wonderful to see the faithful missionaries continuing in their assignments. Brother Albert Mann now has 36 years of foreign service, and, along with his wife, Gladys, serves at the branch. Louise Stubbs was also one of the first missionaries to come to this land, arriving at the end of 1945. She has served in the hot, dry, arid desert of the north, as well as in the south with its abundant rainfall. She has had the privilege of helping 74 persons to dedication and baptism. Brother and Sister Hannan, during 35 years of missionary work, have seen the first congregation in Concepción grow to 15 congregations with some 1,000 publishers. They have personally helped 181 persons to take a stand for true worship. Sisters Dorothea Smith and Dora Ward have been partners throughout their 35 years in the missionary field, and between them they have helped a total of 100 persons to reach the point of dedication and baptism. Since they came to this land in 1946 they have seen the organization grow from its infancy when it had only 93 publishers.

John and Harry Williams (not fleshly brothers) came to Chile in 1949 as graduates of the 13th class of Gilead. Each of these brothers has played an important part in the expansion of true worship in this land as circuit overseers and congregational elders in different parts of the country. How much such faithful brothers are appreciated can be demonstrated by the love, comfort and help that Brother John Williams received during the final months of his terminal illness. The local brothers responded to the situation just marvelously and amply demonstrated our wonderful international brotherhood. (John 13:34, 35) Right up to the last he kept up his living hope and served as a source of encouragement to all who visited him. He died with 31 years of faithful service in the missionary field. His wife remains in her missionary assignment.

Miriam Sumen and Evelyn MacFarlane also came in 1949 from the same class of Gilead. Sister Sumen has helped to open up the work in various places in southern Chile and has done excellent work as a stalwart fighter for true worship, with the added joy of having helped 45 onto the road to life. Sister MacFarlane (Bunny Valenzuela), who married a Chilean brother, died of cancer in 1978. How happy she will be as a faithful resurrected one on earth to greet the 113 persons she had helped to a knowledge of the truth!

At the present time there are 13 missionaries in Chile with 20 or more years in the missionary field. They have seen the blessings of Jehovah on the organization and have been able to share in the amazing expansion that has taken place. In all Chile there are at this time a total of 37 Gilead graduates busy in some form of full-time service, working shoulder to shoulder with their Chilean brothers to expand our spiritual paradise.

Much more could be said of the many other missionaries who have been in this assignment, but space does not allow for it. Since 1945, when the first Gilead missionaries arrived, a total of 194 missionaries have worked here. Eleven of these same missionaries have been Chilean, who have gone to the Watch Tower Bible School of Gilead and returned to their homeland.

Most of the old-timers that came into the truth in the 1930’s have died: the first Chilean to respond favorably and among the first eight to be baptized back in 1931, Brother Juan Flores; Sister Delfina Villablanca (1931), the first Chilean pioneer; Sister Consuelo Traub (1931), who provided the land for Chile’s first Kingdom Hall; Brother Manuel Durán (1935) with his happy face and disposition; and Brother Richard Traub, who died in April of 1979 after 54 years of service in Argentina and Chile. They have all gone on to their heavenly reward and undoubtedly are interested in the work being accomplished in Chile as they continue busy in Jehovah’s service.

Among other old-timers are Max Zimmer (1934), Sebastián Inninger (1936), Eduardo Venegas (1940), and the nephew of Brother Juan Flores, Serafin Flores (1942). They continue to serve Jehovah as their health permits and thus provide fine examples as fearless proclaimers of the Kingdom good news. In fact, the four above-mentioned brothers all serve as elders in their congregations.

What a far cry these days are from the days when Brother Traub arrived in 1930, and, as the first Witness in Chile, began preaching and teaching! Remember, Juan Flores, the first person who attended a Bible discourse, had asked, “And the others, when will they come?” Brother Traub’s reply? “They will come.”

And come they have by the hundreds and thousands​—happy, lovable people who have found rest and peace in Jehovah’s organization. There are now 280 congregations, and isolated groups, with well over 16,000 publishers spreading the seeds of truth from the arid north, where there is a superb ratio of publisher to population, to the luxuriant south, where there is much work yet to do. As long as Jehovah keeps the door of opportunity open, the Chilean brothers, by Jehovah’s undeserved kindness, are determined to accomplish the work yet to be done, to His praise and glory.

[Graph on page 103]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

INCREASE IN PUBLISHERS

16,000

15,081

14,220

12,000

8,000

6,923

4,000

3,370

2,025

1,034

361

65

0 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980

[Map on page 39]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

CHILE

Arica

Calama

Pedro de Valdivia

Copiapó

Vallenar

Illapel

Valparaíso

San Antonio

Melipilla

SANTIAGO

Rancagua

Concepción

Chillán

Coronel

Carahue

Temuco

Valdivia

Corral

Osorno

Fresia

Puerto Montt

Ancud

Castro

Puerto Natales

Punta Arenas

Porvenir

Robinson Crusoe Island

JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS

EASTER ISLAND

PERU

BOLIVIA

ARGENTINA

ATLANTIC OCEAN

PACIFIC OCEAN

[Picture on page 41]

Juan Flores, the first Chilean to respond favorably to the truth, asked: “And the others, when will they come?”

[Picture on page 49]

Kathe Palm, who arrived in Chile in 1936, energetically spread the seeds of truth from one end of the country to the other

[Picture on page 57]

Richard Traub, who opened up the preaching work in Chile, and his wife Consuelo

[Picture on page 71]

All that remained of the Puerto Montt missionary home after the 1960 earthquake

[Picture on page 79]

Branch building in Santiago, Chile

[Picture on page 81]

Evelyn MacFarlane (Bunny Valenzuela), who, before her death in 1978, had helped 113 persons to accept the truth

[Picture on page 105]

Robert and Vora Hannan, who, during their long missionary career, have helped 191 persons to learn the truth

Italy

ITALY has often been described as the “beautiful boot” because it is shaped rather like an 18th-century boot with Apulia in the heel, Calabria in the toe and the Alps around the top of the leg. Italy thus is a long peninsula extending into the Mediterranean Sea. Its name comes from the term the ancient Romans gave to the southern part of the peninsula​—Italia, which, according to legend, means “land of oxen” or “grazing land.” The enchanting nature of the Italian countryside is well known: plains, mountains, lakes, beaches, olive groves, vineyards, and hillsides richly clothed in cypress trees. Italy also has two large islands, Sicily and Sardinia.

The population of almost 57 million is predominantly Catholic, although participation in church activities is extremely limited.

How did true Christianity first take root here, only to die out later on? When and how did the preaching work of Jehovah’s Witnesses begin in this country?

EARLY CHRISTIANS IN ITALY

In the year 59 C.E. certain prisoners including a middle-aged man were conducted by an army officer on a tiring and dangerous journey. After miraculously surviving a shipwreck, they landed on Malta, an island south of Italy, and managed to resume their journey three months later. The ship on which they embarked was called “Sons of Zeus,” in honor of the twin sons of Zeus, believed to protect sailors from danger. However, one of the prisoners was no worshiper of Graeco-Roman divinities. He was a disciple of Jesus Christ by the name of Paul. The journey took them on to Syracuse in Sicily, where they stayed for three days, and then up through the Strait of Messina with a stop at Rhegium. Shortly thereafter, they disembarked at Puteoli, near Naples, where the local spiritual brothers begged them to stay for a while. After an additional seven days, they left for Rome, along the Appian Way, the empire’s foremost long-distance military-commercial highway. The news of Paul’s impending arrival reached the Rome congregation, and the brothers lovingly went to meet him at the Marketplace of Appius and Three Taverns, from where they accompanied the travelers to the end of their journey.​—Acts 27:1–28:16.

Paul had such a high opinion of the Christians in Rome that he had written them earlier saying: “Your faith is talked about throughout the whole world.”​—Rom. 1:8.

However, after having prospered for some time, true Christianity was engulfed by apostasy, the advent of which had been foretold by Jesus Christ. (Matt. 13:26-30, 36-43) The temporal power wielded by religious leaders continued to increase until, at the time of Emperor Constantine, religious and political elements joined forces. This led to the establishment of Catholicism with its papacy.

SPIRITUAL DARKNESS ENVELOPS ITALY

During the Dark Ages, the influence of the so-called Reformation hardly made itself felt in Italy, and the spiritual darkness hanging over the inhabitants of the peninsula continued to reign supreme. There were a few individuals who sought to obtain a true knowledge of God’s Word, but most of them took refuge abroad where they could share their newfound knowledge of the Scriptures with others. Those remaining in Italy were imprisoned and condemned to death by the Inquisition.

In 1870 the Papal States, large tracts of land over which the Catholic Church had civil power, were annexed to the Kingdom of Italy, except for the small area still occupied by Vatican City. There were now good prospects for greater religious freedom in the land. However, these hopes were dashed soon after Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922. In 1929 he signed a concordat with the Catholic Church, conceding exceptional privileges to the Church and clergy and opening the way to a new period of repression. So, we might ask, how did the preaching work of Jehovah’s Witnesses in modern-day Italy have its beginning?

THE BEGINNING

The rebirth of true Christianity goes back to the end of the last century at a small town called Pinerolo, 38 kilometers (24 mi.) from Turin in Piedmont. Pinerolo is situated in one of the picturesque valleys in the Cottian Alps, known as the “Waldensian Valleys.” They owe their name to the followers of Peter Waldo, a Lyons merchant who appreciated many Bible truths.

In 1891 a certain American traveler stopped off at Pinerolo during his first series of visits to Europe. He was Charles Taze Russell, the first president of the Watch Tower Society. There at Pinerolo he met Professor Daniele Rivoire, a Waldensian who taught languages at the Waldensian cultural center of Torre Pellice. Though Professor Rivoire never became one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, he showed much interest in spreading the Bible’s message as explained in the Watch Tower Society’s publications.

A few years passed, and in the meantime, Fanny Lugli, a Waldensian of San Germano Chisone, near Pinerolo, received a book called “The Divine Plan of the Ages” from relatives in America. By 1903 she had recognized the book’s contents as being the truth and was conducting meetings with a small group of persons at her home.

Moreover, around 1903 Professor Rivoire translated the book The Divine Plan of the Ages into Italian. He had the book printed at his own expense at the Tipografia Sociale in 1904. This was before an Italian edition of the book came out in the United States. In his 1904 edition, Professor Rivoire wrote the following note to its readers: “We place this first Italian edition under the Lord’s protection. May he bless it, so that, in spite of its imperfections, it may contribute to magnify his most holy name and encourage his Italian-speaking children to greater devotion.” Jehovah did bless the outcome of this book’s distribution.

Professor Rivoire also began to translate Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence into Italian. It was published quarterly in 1903 and was printed at Pinerolo. Interestingly, the magazine was distributed through the regular channels to the chief newsagents in the most important provincial centers.

During this same period, Clara Cerulli Lantaret and Giosuè Vittorio Paschetto also came to a knowledge of the truth, and Remigio Cuminetti joined them a few years later. These are all persons we shall be hearing about as our story unfolds.

A CONGREGATION FORMED

In 1908 the first congregation of Jehovah’s modern-day servants was formed in Italy. The meetings were held on Thursday evenings at Pinerolo, in Piazza Montebello 7, the home of Sister Cerulli, and on Sunday afternoons at Gondini near San Germano Chisone, at Sister Lugli’s.

When Brother Russell came back to Italy in 1912 to visit the only existing congregation, there were about 40 persons attending the meetings. At that time the work was superintended by the Swiss branch office of the Watch Tower Society, and this arrangement continued until 1945. Sister Cerulli, who could speak English and French as well as Italian, represented the Swiss branch in Italy.

VAIN EXPECTATIONS

During World War I, the small group of Italian brothers underwent a period of testing and purification similar to that experienced in other parts of the world. In 1914 some Bible Students, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then called, expected to “be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air” and believed that their earthly preaching work had come to an end. (1 Thess. 4:17) An existing account relates: “One day, some of them went out to an isolated place to wait for the event to take place. However, when nothing happened, they were obliged to go back home again in a very downcast frame of mind. As a result, a number of these ones fell away from the faith.”

About 15 persons remained faithful, continuing to attend the meetings and to study the Society’s publications. Commenting on that period, Brother Remigio Cuminetti said: “Instead of the expected crown of glory, we received a stout pair of boots to carry on the preaching work.”

BROTHER CUMINETTI’S COURT TRIAL

Italy’s entry into the war, in May 1915, marked the beginning of a very difficult time for one member of the congregation, Brother Remigio Cuminetti. When he was drafted for military service, he decided to maintain his neutrality. (Isa. 2:4; John 15:19) This meant that he would have to go on trial before the Military Tribunal at Alessandria. Sister Clara Cerulli attended the trial and sent a detailed report about it to Brother Giovanni DeCecca at Brooklyn Bethel, knowing that he always was interested in what was going on in the Italian field. Her letter, dated September 19, 1916, is an authentic account of what took place:

“My dear brother in Christ,

“I feel I should write without delay to tell you the good news of how our dear brother, Remigio Cuminetti, took a firm stand for the faith and gave a good witness during his trial at Alessandria.

“Sister Fanny Lugli and I had the great privilege of attending the trial and being upbuilt by the open confession of our brother’s firm faith.

“The Judge repeatedly tried to trap our brother into some admission or other but Remigio was never once confused. Here is an account of what was said at the trial:

JUDGE: ‘I warn you that you are on trial before this Tribunal on a serious charge and yet you look as though you had something to laugh about!’

BROTHER CUMINETTI: ‘I cannot help my facial expression. The joy I feel in my heart must be reflected on my face.’

JUDGE: ‘Why do you refuse to put on a military uniform and serve in the defense of your country?’

BROTHER CUMINETTI: ‘I am here before the Court because of my refusal to wear a military uniform, that is all. I am not guilty of any other offense. I feel it is unseemly for one of God’s sons to wear a uniform that stands for hatred and war! For the same reason I refuse to wear an armband and work in a factory taking part in the war effort. I prefer to be branded as one of God’s sons by acting peaceably towards my neighbor.’

JUDGE: ‘Do you admit to stripping down to your underwear when you were in prison at Cuneo?’

BROTHER CUMINETTI: ‘Yes, Your Honor, it is true. Three times I was forced to put a uniform on and three times I took it off again. My conscience rebels against the idea of doing harm to my neighbor. I am ready to give my life for the good of others but I shall never lift a finger to harm my fellowman, because God, through his Holy Spirit, instructs us to love and not hate our neighbor.’

JUDGE: ‘What kind of education did you have?’

BROTHER CUMINETTI: ‘That has little importance. I have studied the Bible!’

JUDGE: ‘Answer the questions I put to you. For how long did you attend school?’

BROTHER CUMINETTI: ‘For three years, but I repeat that this has little importance compared to my training in the school of Christ!’

JUDGE: ‘It is a pity you came into contact with certain people [indicating Sister Lugli and myself] who have led you into wrong ways. [Deprecatingly] How long have you studied this book you call “Bible”?’

BROTHER CUMINETTI: ‘For six years and my only regret is that I did not begin before!’

JUDGE: ‘Who teaches you this new religion?’

BROTHER CUMINETTI: ‘God himself teaches his own. More mature students have helped me to understand Bible truths, but only God can open our eyes of understanding.’

JUDGE: ‘Do you comprehend the seriousness of your disobedient conduct? Will your decision be strong enough to face up to the consequences?’

BROTHER CUMINETTI: ‘Yes, I am sure it will. I am ready to face whatever might happen. Even if I should be condemned to death, I shall never violate the promise I have made to serve the Lord to the full.’

“After this the Public Prosecutor asked for a sentence of four years four months for Brother Cuminetti and then it was the turn of the Defense to speak.

“The lawyer rose to his feet and gave a marvelous witness regarding our brother’s attitude, saying that, rather than being given a prison sentence, such a man should be admired for his courage and faithfulness to his God. It was pointed out that the accused did not want to violate his conscience by going against the Bible command not to kill. He was acting in obedience to the Divine Law.

“After this the judges withdrew for five minutes and then returned to the courtroom to read the sentence. ‘Remigio Cuminetti is condemned to three years and two months’ imprisonment for treason against the King and the laws of the land.’

“Our brother thanked them with a radiant smile on his face!

“Then the Judge asked him if he had anything further to say.

“Remigio replied, ‘I should have a great deal to say about God’s love and his marvelous purpose for mankind.’

“At this the Judge testily retorted, ‘We have already heard enough on that score. I repeat the question. Have you anything further to declare with regard to the sentence?’

“‘No,’ replied our brother, his face alight with fervor, ‘I repeat that I am ready to give my life for the good of others but I shall not lift a finger to harm my fellowman!’

“This was the end of the trial.

“Sister Fanny Lugli and I had the privilege of speaking to our dear brother. Everyone admired him. Even the judges were amazed by his humble attitude mixed with the courage of the sons of the light in their refusal to bow before earthly powers. They will bow to God alone as they pray to him with spirit and truth.”

“THE ODYSSEY OF A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR”

What followed the court trial is in itself another story. So remarkable was it that years later it was recounted by the periodical L’Incontro in its issue of July/​August 1952. The following extracts are from the article, entitled “The Odyssey of a Conscientious Objector During World War I”:

“This Witness was Remigio Cuminetti, born at Porte di Pinerolo in 1890. . . .

“However, when war broke out the engineering factory [the RIV of Villar Perosa] was incorporated into the war effort and workers were required to wear an armband and consider themselves as under the military authority. Cuminetti could have accepted to do this and remain a civilian. If he had done so he would have been spared the trials he had to bear afterward. As a specialized worker he could have had permanent call-up deferment, but he immediately thought to himself, ‘Having dedicated my life to God, can I continue to do his will and, at the same time, contribute to the war effort? Although indirectly, I should be disobeying the commandments, “Do not kill,” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Aren’t the Germans and Austrians my neighbors just as much as the French, English and Russians?’ To this straightforward man the answer appeared to be obvious and clear-cut . . .

“When his age-group was drafted for military service he stuck to his convictions and refused to join the army. As a result, he was arrested again and tried before the Military Tribunal of Alessandria. He was sentenced to three and a half years’ imprisonment [actually three years and two months] and sent to the military prison of Gaeta . . . However, the military authorities thought it unfair that he should quietly spend his time in prison while his fellow countrymen were risking their lives on the battlefield! . . . They decided to take him out of prison and send him to the military command where he would be forced to become a soldier and fight for his country . . . once there, he refused to put a uniform on and was left out in the yard in his shirt.

“After spending some time in this condition amid the general derision of his companions, he thought the matter over and decided that just wearing certain clothing would not make a soldier out of him. He reasoned that no one could be considered a soldier or be subjected to military discipline if he did not attach the stars to his jacket. So, he put the uniform on without the stars and no one ever succeeded in making him attach them to his collar. They sent him back to prison and from there he was transferred to a mental institution because the authorities decided he must be out of his mind. Since he was as capable of reasoning as anyone else, the Head of the institution could not classify him as mentally deranged and passed him on to his regiment once more. In view of his determined refusal to wear military stars or do any kind of military service he landed back in prison before long. So it was that several months went by between prison and the mental institution.

“Finally, he was sent back to his regiment, and this time a certain army major decided to break his resistance once and for all. One day he ordered him at gunpoint to take his weapons and go into the trenches. Cuminetti . . . knew that this major had already killed a number of soldiers for much lesser offenses, . . . so he was sure that his moment had come. Nevertheless, he calmly refused to touch the weapons. Then the major told two other soldiers to prepare a kit bag for him, put it on his back and buckle a bandoleer, saber, and so forth around his waist. After having dressed him up in this fashion the major again threatened him with his revolver and ordered him to go out to the lines. Since Cuminetti did not move, two solders were ordered to frog-march him to the trenches by force. At this point, as they were taking him away, Cuminetti observed, ‘Poor Italy! If her soldiers have to be taken out to the trenches by force, how will she ever manage to win the war?’ This remark made even that fierce and implacable major relent and he ordered that Cuminetti be stripped of his military trappings and be sent back to prison.

“Sometime later, he was sent for by the colonel of the regiment. This officer had decided to reason kindly with him to get him to wear his military stars. He called him into his office and gave him every assurance that if he were to obey orders he would never have to touch a gun and it would be arranged for him to serve behind the lines. Cuminetti admitted later . . . that this was the hardest test he had had to undergo so far. At a certain moment, seeing his humble and respectful attitude, the colonel thought he had won the battle and said in a fatherly tone, ‘My poor fellow, how can you possibly fight against the formidable strength of the whole army all by yourself? You would be bound to be overwhelmed. Now, I am going to pin your stars on for you and you will wear them without rebelling anymore. I am doing this for your own good and swear that you will not have to shoot at other men and that your ideas will be fully respected.’

“Cuminetti replied quite simply, ‘Colonel, if you try to pin the stars on my uniform I shall let you do it, but as soon as I get outside I shall take them off again!’ Faced with such unbending decision, the colonel did not insist any further and abandoned him to his fate.

“On account of his faith, this simple humble man stood trial five times. He was imprisoned at Regina Coeli, Rome, Piacenza and Gaeta, as well as the Reggio Emilia mental asylum.”

Finally, after spending additional months in prison, Brother Cuminetti was taken to the front to serve as a stretcher-bearer. The magazine reports:

“One day, while he was on duty in the front lines, he heard that a wounded officer was lying out in front of the trenches without the strength to get back behind the lines. Nobody wanted to go out and get him. Cuminetti immediately offered himself for this risky mission and succeeded in getting the officer back to safety although it cost him a leg wound.”

He was awarded a silver service medal for this action, “but he refused the decoration on the grounds that he had acted out of love for his neighbor, not with the idea of winning a medal.”

The verdict pronounced against him by the Military Tribunal of Alessandria on August 18, 1916, is registered under No. 10419 in the Trials Register to be found in the Military Tribunal Archives at Turin. Brother Cuminetti was, without doubt, the first Italian Witness to take a stand for Christian neutrality and probably the first conscientious objector in the history of modern Italy.

THE OPENING OF AN ITALIAN OFFICE

The war ended, leaving a toll of death and ruin throughout the peninsula. Although the work continued to be under the direction of the Swiss branch, an office was opened in Italy after 1919. It was at Pinerolo in a house rented at 11 Via Silvio Pellico.

In 1922 Brother Remigio Cuminetti replaced Sister Cerulli as Italy’s representative of the Society. It was considered no longer appropriate to have a woman in this position of responsibility when it could be filled by a man who had given more than sufficient proof of his integrity. Sister Cerulli, however, was offended by this change, and she left the truth.

After the war, the task of translating the Watch Tower Society’s publications was taken over by Professor Giuseppe Banchetti. He was a Waldensian pastor, but he had studied the truth and appreciated its value. He had even tried to incorporate certain beliefs into his own religion by preaching them from the pulpit, but without success. However, he left the seeds of truth in various parts of the country. Around 1913 he was at Cerignola, in the province of Foggia, where the Society used to send him regular consignments of literature. These consignments continued to arrive at the local Waldensian church even after his death, and, later on, a group of Bible Students was formed by persons who had read the literature.

Besides The Watch Tower, Professor Banchetti translated the books The Harp of God and Deliverance, as well as a number of booklets. Like Professor Rivoire, he never completely broke away from the Waldensian Church, although he believed the Watch Tower Society’s explanations of the Bible and spread the message.

When Professor Banchetti died in 1926, translations were made for a short time by a certain Mrs. Courtial, who translated the book Creation. In 1928, however, the task was assigned to a dedicated person, Brother Giosuè Vittorio Paschetto, who carried on the work of translation until the day of his arrest by the Fascist police, November 7, 1939. During this period he translated the books Government, Reconciliation, Life, Prophecy, Light (2 volumes), Vindication (3 volumes), Preparation, Preservation, Jehovah, Riches, Enemies and Salvation. These publications were truly ‘food in due season’ for God’s people. (Matt. 24:45) One of them in particular, the book Enemies, caused a tremendous wave of persecution to sweep over the small existing group of brothers on account of its outspoken attitude regarding the issue of neutrality.

When Brother Paschetto was released from prison on August 23, 1943, he continued to work with other translators until he finished his earthly course in 1956.

HELP FROM ABROAD

Now let us go back to the end of World War I. Shortly after 1918, Brother Marcello Martinelli, who had come to a knowledge of the truth in the United States, returned to Italy. He was a native of Valtellina, one of the beautiful valleys in the Rhaetian Alps leading down to Lake Como, and he covered this territory a number of times with the Kingdom message. In 1923 he became a “colporteur,” or full-time Kingdom preacher, and joined Brother Cuminetti in the Pinerolo area. Brother Martinelli was much loved for his goodness of heart, which, in periods of intense persecution, led him to write loving letters to the few scattered brothers. He continued in the preaching work until 1960, when he finished his earthly ministry. In the province of Sondrio, where he carried on the Lord’s work, a small group of Bible Students was formed.

In the period between 1920 and 1935, other emigrants who had accepted the truth in Belgium, France and the United States, returned to Italy. In the places where they resettled they carried on zealous preaching and found a number of hearing ears. This is how other groups of Bible Students were formed.

In 1923 the Swiss branch invited three colporteurs working in the Italian-speaking Swiss canton of Ticino, to move to Italy. They were Ignazio Protti and his two sisters Adele and Albina. The following year Sister Emma Hotz, another colporteur, joined them.

ZEALOUS ACTIVITY OF FIVE COLPORTEURS

The activity of these zealous colporteurs is indeed worthy of mention. The three sisters worked in one territory and the brothers, Ignazio Protti and Marcello Martinelli, in another. From 1923 to 1927 they covered various parts of Piedmont and a part of Lombardy. Sister Adele Protti, who later married Brother Brun from Switzerland, wrote many years ago:

“In 1924, 20,000 copies of the booklet A Desirable Government were printed at Pinerolo. We had also received from Berne 100,000 copies of the tract Ecclesiastics Indicted. This tract contained the indictment read at the 1924 Columbus, Ohio, convention. It powerfully denounced the clergy. It was distributed in all the major Italian cities.”

A report in The Watch Tower of December 1, 1925, had this to say about the campaign: “Our Italian brethren distributed 100,000 copies of the ‘Indictment’; and they particularly saw to it that the pope and the other high officials of the Vatican each received a copy.”

The excitement of these colporteurs as they delivered such a pungent message can well be imagined! Sister Brun continued:

“Brother Cuminetti, Sister Hotz and I distributed 10,000 copies of the ‘Indictment’ at Genoa in a single day. A hundred thousand copies of the tract Testimony to the Rulers of the World were received from Switzerland, but most of them were seized by the authorities. Approximately every three months we used to go to visit our brothers at San Germano Chisone to build ourselves up spiritually at the meetings. It is difficult to express our yearning, our ardent desire, to meet together for a while with the brothers.

“On one occasion, I had worked the day through in a village with very satisfactory results. My heart was full of joy as I started back home along the only possible road, which passed through a wood. As I walked along full of joyful thoughts I was suddenly aware of a young man with a bicycle walking along at my side. I was not at all alarmed and began to witness to him about the Kingdom reign of peace and justice. It took us about two hours to cover the distance back to Alessandria. Towards the end of our journey the young man said to me:

“‘Signorina, I feel I must tell you that you have prevented me from committing a terrible crime. When I caught up with you it was with the intention of causing you harm. If you had put up resistance, I might even have killed you. But when I saw your radiant face and your trustful innocent expression, I did not feel capable of abusing your confidence. Then, you started to talk to me about so many marvelous things I had never heard of before. These two hours have been enough to change my attitude toward life, and I now see what a miserable creature I was. I should like to change my way of life. Please give me anything you have to read about these things.’

“I gave him all the literature I had left in my bag and he paid me for it. Then, he shook my hand and said good-bye. On that occasion, as on others, I have been protected in a truly marvelous way.”

Sister Brun remained faithful until her death in 1976, at Zurich, after 50 years of devoted service. Her brother, Ignazio, another of the five colporteurs, wrote in 1970:

“We did not even count the hours spent in the service. We just used to work from morning to night. Often we were arrested and then released again after a short time. At Gallarate (near Varese), Brother Martinelli and I were arrested and put in prison on false charges cooked up by the clergy. We were allowed to go out into the prison yard for an hour a day, and this provided an opportunity to witness to other prisoners. Often we would be surrounded by a group of listeners, and even the guards would stop by. One day the prison governor came too. When the prisoners learned that we were to be released they embraced us and thanked us cordially. We were also very moved by this and thanked God for giving us a chance to reach these people.”

“One day,” Brother Protti continued, “as I was going from house to house, I noticed a man following me. Soon afterward, he stopped me as I was coming out of a house, saying that he was an agent of the security police. He asked to see my identity card and wanted to know what I was doing. With the idea of introducing the booklet on the same theme, I answered, ‘I am proclaiming the advent of a desirable government.’ At this the agent was almost offended and replied that there already was a desirable government​—obviously referring to the Fascist regime. I explained: ‘The government you mean is only a temporary one. The one I am announcing will last forever.’ Then I pulled out my Bible and had him read Daniel 2:44 and Da 7:14. You should have seen how carefully he read those two verses. He gave my Bible back again and instead of arresting me as I expected, he let me go. After all these years, I still wonder if that agent remembered our conversation when the Fascist regime fell.”

Brother Protti was faithful in the Kingdom service until the end. He died at Basel in 1977 at the age of 80.

1925​—THE FIRST ASSEMBLY

The work continued to expand in spite of many difficulties, and the first assembly was held at Pinerolo April 23 to 26, 1925. Since Brother A. H. Macmillan from the Society’s headquarters was making a series of visits abroad, he was able to be present. The assembly was held in a large room at the Corona Grossa hotel.

It would have been ridiculous to expect the Fascist authorities to give their permission for this assembly. So the brothers disguised the gathering as a wedding celebration. During the assembly Brother Remigio Cuminetti married Sister Albina Protti, one of the Swiss colporteurs. At that historic assembly there were 70 in attendance and 10 of these were baptized.

“Our days were full of blessings, rejoicing and happiness,” wrote Sister Brun, who was present at the assembly. She adds: “The hotel owner brought his other guests and clients into the hall saying: ‘Come and see everybody, we have the primitive church under our roof!’ . . . Everything was well organized and we usually managed to clear the floor and set the chairs out in a flash. Afterward we would put them away again and leave everything in order. We were all happy and willing to lend a hand. It was a great witness.”

Nevertheless, during that first assembly there was a curious inconvenience. “Although we were very different in many ways, we managed to get on well together. However, we did not manage to agree on the singing of the songs. The brothers from the north sang with a lively rhythm, while those from the south sang slowly and with such feeling that it was a pity to make them change. So the presiding brother decided to have those from the south of Italy sing first, followed by those from the north.”

THE WORK BEGINS TO DECLINE

The preaching work was full of promise. The report published in The Watch Tower of December 1, 1924 (English ed.), commented: “Bicycles have been provided for the three colporteurs, who are traveling through the country distributing literature and selling books. We have great hopes for a wide spread of truth in Italy in the near future.”

Some time before then, Brother Cuminetti had inherited 10,000 lire, a tidy sum in those days. He could therefore completely devote his time to witnessing and encouraging the brothers, visiting them in their home territories. The Watch Tower of May 1, 1925 (Italian ed.), carried an “Account of a Journey Across Italy,” made by Brothers Cuminetti and Martinelli at the end of 1924. They traveled as much as 5,000 kilometers (3,000 mi.) to visit brothers in isolated areas and interested persons in various regions from Lombardy to Sicily. The account relates that at Porto Sant’Elpidio (central Italy), documents were filed to obtain permission for the use of a hall in which to hold a talk and, “although the authorities chewed the matter over for a while, they had to give us permission in the end on account of our insistence . . . On the day of the talk, more than 200 persons came to hear, ‘Return of the Dead Is at Hand.’” It was unquestionably a great success.

Then, for various reasons the work slowly began to decline. Between 1926 and 1927, three of the colporteurs had to go back to Switzerland for health and other reasons. The main cause of the decline, however, was the concordat signed in 1929 between the Catholic Church and the Fascist State, conceding exceptional privileges to the Church. This marked the beginning of a sad period of religious repression.

Here and there a few small lamps of truth kept burning. In some places there were small groups of brothers or only isolated persons, and it was difficult to communicate with them and to keep them united. They were rather like glowing embers hidden underneath the ashes, in danger of dying out completely. And, in fact, some did die out. In one of his letters Brother Cuminetti described the situation as follows:

“We should like to do much more, but we are under ever closer observation . . . they intercept everything. We received The Golden Age [now Awake!] up until March and then it stopped coming. Brooklyn informed us they had sent several parcels containing the latest books and booklets, but nothing has been received. Ever fewer copies of The Watch Tower are reaching their destination, and any of the brothers showing zeal are arrested by the enemy . . . others are threatened with exile in another part of the country and all kinds of ill-treatment.”

KINGDOM WORK NOT COMPLETELY SUPPRESSED

It would not have been very difficult for the clergy, backed up by their Fascist henchmen, to control the activity of a few dozen persons and eventually stamp it out altogether, were it not that ‘the hand of Jehovah had not become too short that it could not save, nor had his ear become too heavy that it could not hear.’ (Isa. 59:1) He did not permit his loyal ones to be overcome.

Here and there small groups of Kingdom publishers managed to survive. And the very fact that they came into existence and persevered shows that Jehovah protected them by means of his powerful active force.

THE GROUP AT PRATOLA PELIGNA

The good news of the Kingdom was first brought to Pratola Peligna, in the province of Aquila, in 1919 by an emigrant who had come to a knowledge of the truth in the United States. This brother, Vincenzo Pizzoferrato, remained faithful to the heavenly calling up to his death in 1951. He worked as a traveling fruit vendor in the nearby towns of Sulmona, Raiano and Popoli, where he would arrive with his barrow loaded down with fruit and literature for distribution. The Divine Plan of the Ages, The Harp of God and other publications were distributed in this way, and a small group of interested persons soon began to gather around him.

In 1924, as he was finishing the distribution of the tract The Return of the Dead Is Imminent near the cemetery of Popoli (Pescara), a priest accompanied by Fascist youths interrupted his activity and marched him off to the police station for questioning. However, as it turned out, the maresciallo (marshal) was very favorable to the message. He called all the carabinieri (national policemen) at the station to come and listen to the brother, so an excellent witness was given and literature was distributed. To ensure that Brother Pizzoferrato would not have any more trouble with the Fascists, the maresciallo had him escorted to the railway station by two policemen.

In 1925, when the assembly was held at Pinerolo, Brother Pizzoferrato attended with his wife and an interested person who became a brother. At that time, there was already a group of about 30 persons meeting together at his home and, later on, when a family built a new house, a room was set aside for use as a Kingdom Hall.

In 1939 the clergy managed to stir up trouble with the authorities, and the brothers found themselves in serious difficulty. The literature was confiscated, and it was forbidden to hold meetings. Brother Pizzoferrato, arrested and tried before the Special Tribunal at Rome, was sentenced to prison. Before long he was released on account of his poor health, and he immediately began spreading the “good news” again, in spite of the danger of another arrest. Thus the local group of brothers was never completely suppressed.

THE GROUP AT ROSETO DEGLI ABRUZZI

Roseto degli Abruzzi is a village on the coast, in the province of Teramo. The local inhabitants first heard the truth from a sister by the name of Caterina Di Marco. Born at Roseto, she emigrated to the United States where she came in contact with the truth in 1921 at Philadelphia. She was baptized a year later and returned to Roseto degli Abruzzi in 1925. What did she do on her return? The sister narrates:

“As soon as I arrived I began to speak to others about the faith. I even used to distribute tracts and booklets on the beach near the bathing cabins. A certain local man read one of these booklets and exclaimed, ‘Ah! This must be that new religion Caterina has brought back with her from America.’ He wanted to read the rest of the literature in my possession. He did and became convinced it was the truth.” He was the first one, and later other sincere persons followed. Brother DeCecca once described Sister Di Marco as “a veritable sword” wielded against the religious opposers. Although infirm, this 85-year-old sister still continues to maintain her integrity and hold fast to her hope.

Domenico Cimorosi, the first one to come into the truth as a result of her preaching, served as a regular pioneer until he died at the age of 87. A few years before his death, he wrote the following account of how the work began in the area:

“I started talking about the truth to my brother, father, cousin and workmates. In the end about five or six of us were reading the only small booklet I had, Comfort for the People, and checking the scriptures in our Bibles. We decided to go and visit Caterina Di Marco, the lady who had come back from America. We immediately saw the logic of the explanations she gave us and started holding meetings at her home. Although shortly afterward the Fascists tried to find us out, with Jehovah’s help we managed to keep our meeting places secret.”

Religious intolerance was not slow in making itself felt against that small group of sincere persons. “The parish priest sued me for distributing the tract Ecclesiastics Indicted,” relates Caterina Di Marco. “I was acquitted but my troubles were not over. Later on I was arrested for the first time because I did not go to hear a discourse given by Il Duce [the leader, Mussolini]. The magistrate asked me why I had not gone. I replied by quoting the third chapter of Daniel about the three Hebrews who refused to bow down before the golden image. They sentenced me to five years’ exile in another part of Italy.”

Vittorio Cimorosi, the son of Domenico, remembers that the literature was often confiscated during the 1930’s. Nevertheless, a few copies of The Watchtower and some other publications arrived at their destination. He relates: “Brother DeCecca often wrote to my father and other interested ones, sending them spiritual food. He frequently used roundabout expressions to avoid compromising us. Once he wrote, ‘If you do not have “enemies” you will find them at Montone.’ Acting on this suggestion, Brother Guerino Castronà went to the village of Montone where he found a man who had the book Enemies and other literature.”

THE GROUP AT MALO

“I can never thank Jehovah enough for the precious gift I had of being God-fearing from my youth.” These words were written by Girolamo Sbalchiero, a brother who remained faithful to his Christian assignment until his death in 1962. His personal story is closely linked to that of a group of Witnesses that was, in time, to become a flourishing congregation.

Brother Sbalchiero was originally a zealous Catholic. He used to wear a knotted cord around his bare waist with which to flagellate himself and mortify his flesh in penance for his sins. He used to pray often, kneeling on small pebbles so that he could offer his suffering to God. He also took part in long pilgrimages on foot, once covering a distance of 50 kilometers (30 mi.). Then, in 1924, Girolamo heard the Kingdom message for the first time from a person who had been in contact with the Witnesses in America. What was his reaction? This devout carpenter from Malo, a small village near Vicenza in Veneto, wrote:

“I worked by day and read the Scriptures at night. My employer had given me a Bible because he didn’t want it, and, although I did not understand a great deal of what I read, I was very struck with the account of the battle of Har–Magedon and immediately started speaking to others about it. I wrote to Brother Cuminetti, who was serving at Pinerolo, and his letters were of great help to me. Nevertheless, without any personal assistance, it took me eight years to grasp the truth fully. When I had grasped it, I stopped going to church and partaking of Communion, as I had done every morning of my life up to then.”

Persecution was not slow in arriving. “To study the Bible,” he narrated, “we used to hide behind hedges in isolated places. Once, we even celebrated the Memorial in a cave. Others became interested in the message and joined me. One Sunday afternoon five of us met together in a private home to study the Scriptures. After a while the village priest strode in and insulted us, saying we were too ignorant to understand the Bible. He added that the priests alone had the power to save souls.”

After a heated discussion, during which the priest was not able to answer any of the questions put to him, he sent for the police. However, the maresciallo (marshal) knew the brother and also knew that he was highly respected in the area for his goodness, so he took no action.

“Sometime afterward,” Brother Sbalchiero’s account continues, “the Society decided to hold a campaign with the booklet The Kingdom, the Hope of the World. I started out on my bicycle for Padua with 165 booklets, but on my way I was stopped by the police, placed under arrest and a case was prepared to have me exiled to another part of Italy. Fortunately, the authorities at my hometown got to know about this and intervened in my favor. They finally succeeded in getting me released and had me accompanied back home again. When we arrived back in the main square, they said to me: ‘Haven’t you had enough of all of this?’ I replied: ‘Not at all. I feel more determined than ever.’ At this, they looked at one another in amazement.”

Giuseppe Sbalchiero, the son of Girolamo, relates: “One day, I said to my father, ‘How can we manage to resist against the thousands of mighty ones opposing us and continue to give a witness?’ He replied: ‘Do not be afraid, my son, because this work is not “from men but from God.”’”​—Compare Acts 5:33-40.

THE GROUP AT FAENZA

Do you remember Ignazio Protti, the colporteur who came to Italy from Switzerland in 1923? Well, in 1924 he had the opportunity of witnessing at Marradi, a small village surrounded by mountains and chestnut woods, where he was born. The seeds of truth fell upon “fine soil” and several persons accepted the message. (Matt. 13:8) In turn, they shared this knowledge with others.

Some years later, at Sarna, Faenza, not far from Marradi, a farmer by the name of Domenico Taroni was given some literature. He readily accepted the “good news.” In 1927 he subscribed for The Watch Tower but only a few copies arrived. Probably some of them escaped the authorities’ attention by chance, and others arrived by underground methods. Brother Taroni was one of the first witnesses of Jehovah in the fertile region of Romagna. One of his first contacts was with Vincenzo Artusi, who became a faithful brother and later served as an elder in one of the three congregations at Faenza until his death in 1981. In turn, Vincenzo managed to pass the truth on to others, including Emilio Babini and his brother Antonio. They both remained faithful to Jehovah until they died.

These zealous brothers met together in private homes. As soon as they were identified by the clergy, they were persecuted. A few dropped out, but others kept their integrity. The nine brothers still remaining in 1939 in this area were more than enough to start off the extensive activity of the postwar period.

THE GROUP AT ZORTEA

In 1931 and 1932 two emigrants returned from abroad with the truth in their hearts. They were Narciso Stefanon, who came from Belgium, and Albino Battisti, who returned from France. They immediately began preaching​—the former at Zortea, a small village of a few hundred inhabitants that is perched a thousand meters (3,300 ft.) up on a mountainside; the latter, who had heard the truth from Polish brothers, at Calliano, which is about 15 kilometers (10 mi.) from Trent.

Before returning to Italy, Narciso Stefanon barely had time to subscribe for the Watchtower magazine and read a few other publications of the Society. On his return to Zortea, he continued to attend church for a while, and it was right there, in church, that he gave his first witness. At Mass one day the parish priest gave a sermon explaining parts of the Gospel, and Narciso publically contested what he had said, using the Diodati version of the Bible to show where the priest was wrong.

The congregation split into two opposing factions, one supporting Stefanon, the other supporting the priest. In time, however, as a result of the priest’s influence, the first group gradually dwindled away, and only a few persons actually accepted the Kingdom message. Narciso Stefanon left the Catholic Church once and for all, and others joined him in studying the publications of the “faithful and discreet slave.” (Matt. 24:45-47, New World Translation) They used to meet together in haylofts, barns and anywhere else they could escape from the surveillance of the clergy and Fascists alike. At that time the regime hunted true Christians down without mercy.

One of the persons with ‘hearing ears’ was Francesco Zortea. His last name and that of the village were the same. When he first heard the truth in 1933, he was 25 years old; and from then on he continued to demonstrate his indomitable faith in Jehovah right up to his death in 1977.

In an account of his Christian ministry Brother Zortea wrote:

“We were spied upon, followed and kept under control to such an extent that we had to hide when we wanted to consult the Scriptures. I had many personal experiences of this kind, and they all served to strengthen my faith instead of weakening it. In April 1934, I traveled on foot to Fonzaso (Belluno), about 20 kilometers [12 mi.] from my home, to witness there. While I was going from house to house with the Kingdom message, I was stopped and taken to the police station by the carabinieri. There, I was questioned, my literature was confiscated and I was thrown into a cell until the following morning.

“Later, in July 1935, I was notified to come to the police station for an urgent official communication. When I arrived the maresciallo said to me, ‘Mr. Zortea, we must inform you that your case has been referred to the pretura [local magistrate’s court] at Trent, and this authority requires a statement from you specifying the kind of activity in which you are engaged.’ I told them I was ‘announcing God’s Kingdom’ to the people.

“Not long afterward, in the month of August, I was again urgently requested to come to the police station. This time I was told that the Pretura of Trent was not satisfied with my first statement. They wanted another one, explaining what was meant by the expression ‘announcing God’s Kingdom.’ So I explained the Bible meaning of this expression in harmony with the words, ‘Your Kingdom come’ from the Lord’s Prayer. They must have mistaken the Kingdom for a political government!”​—Matt. 6:9, 10.

However, this brother’s real difficulties were yet to come. In October 1935, Italy declared war on Ethiopia, and when Brother Zortea was called up for military service, he decided to maintain his neutrality. He wrote: “I refused to put on a uniform and fight against my fellowman.” As a result, he was sentenced to five years’ exile in another part of Italy. Brothers Stefanon and Battisti suffered the same fate.

In exile at Muro Lucano, in the province of Potenza, Brother Zortea continued the preaching activity. He reported: “As soon as I had settled in, I got in contact with Brother Remigio Cuminetti, asking for literature to carry on the preaching work. Not long afterward, I received a parcel of booklets, which I began to distribute with caution. I used various methods. Some were handed out personally; others were left on public seats along the roadside or inside parked cars.”

Thanks to a government amnesty, he was able to return home to Zortea in 1937 in time to witness another episode of the religious intolerance the clergy vented on Jehovah’s Witnesses. One of the local sisters died, and the priest would not permit her to be buried in the parish cemetery on the pretext that, in so doing, he would be profaning holy ground. Three days passed by and the situation was still at a deadlock. Then the parish priests of Zortea and the nearby village of Prade had a meeting with the council secretary and the podesta (the mayor under Fascism). What happened afterward might well have been taken from an account about the early Christians. Brother Zortea wrote:

“Only at noon of the third day were we told that the funeral was to take place immediately and that the body would have to be interred at Prade where the council owned a piece of ground in the cemetery. We set off. There were four of us followed by members of the sister’s family and other interested persons. We were accompanied by an official from the town council and a police escort. Along the way we were greeted by laughter, catcalls and derision, and, when we arrived at Prade, we found a crowd waiting to watch the final act of the comedy, which was to be the most interesting.

“It had been decided that we could not be allowed to enter the cemetery through the gateway because it had been ‘blessed.’ Consequently, we would have to take the coffin over the wall by means of two ladders, one on the inside and one on the outside of the cemetery. The crowd had come to enjoy the spectacle of our getting the coffin over the wall. At this juncture the council official intervened to inquire who was responsible for such an arrangement. He was told that the decision had been made by the local priest. At that, the official replied that the mayor had given orders that the funeral should pass through the gateway, and this is what we were then allowed to do.”

THE GROUPS AT MONTESILVANO, PIANELLA AND SPOLTORE

In the early 1930’s, Luigi D’Angelo returned to Spoltore in the Abruzzi region. He had come to a knowledge of the truth in France, and on his return he showed Christian love to his relatives, friends and neighbors by sharing what he knew with them. Brothers who still remember him have this to say:

“He was very active and full of zeal. He would often travel many kilometers to visit isolated brothers, in spite of the many difficulties that such journeys entailed. Bicycles were the most common means of transport in those days, and it is encouraging for us today to recall one of his longest journeys when he cycled a total distance of almost 600 kilometers [375 mi.] across the Apennine Mountains to visit a brother living at Avellino. Before leaving, he went to look for a stout stick to tie to his bicycle in case he met up with wolves while going over the mountains. He also fixed a cushion on to the seat and set off full of enthusiasm, fired with the desire to upbuild another brother by means of the Christian fellowship so necessary for all of us. His ministry was of brief duration because in 1936 he became ill and died.”

The seeds of truth planted by this brother, however, did not die out. Rather, these seeds germinated according to the will of God who “makes it grow.” (1 Cor. 3:7) So it was that from a single Witness, groups of publishers were formed in the towns of Montesilvano, Pianella and Spoltore, in the province of Pescara. These brothers also had to ‘pick up their torture stake’ and undergo persecution as followers of Jesus Christ.​—Luke 9:23.

The Di Censo family of Montesilvano was one of those that accepted the Kingdom message. They got rid of their religious images and shortly afterward their home became a meeting place for those wanting to study the Holy Scriptures. Then what happened? Sister Mariantonia Di Censo, who is still faithfully walking in the way of the truth, relates:

“Very soon the clergy started to oppose us. They organized an impressive procession in which the whole village took part. It filed slowly around our house and then the participants stuck a cross into the ground and began shouting: ‘Protestants get out! Go back to Church!’ We had become a public spectacle. We were alone in the face of this opposition, and only Jehovah could sustain us and give us the necessary strength to uphold the truth and go ahead.”

Gerardo Di Felice, another member of the Montesilvano group, had his faith tested on a number of occasions. Once, while he was holding a Bible study in his home, a band of fanatical Fascists, instigated by the clergy, burst into the house and beat him, leaving him unconscious on the floor.

Later on he maintained his neutrality with firmness and courage. He wrote: “First of all I was sent to Bari to the military hospital and then to the psychiatric asylum at Bisceglie [where they discharged him on the grounds that he was suffering from ‘paranoia’]. One day a nun caught me reading the Bible under my pillow. She confiscated it, saying that it was a book full of venom.”

Brother Francesco Di Giampaolo, a watchmaker of Montesilvano narrates: “I was busy at my work when a band of hooligans, instigated by the priest, began to throw heavy clods of mud at the building where I lived. My neighbors and other tenants immediately ran outside shouting, ‘We are not Protestants!’ They were hit but I was unhurt.”

A LIGHTNING CAMPAIGN

Let us now go back to the year 1932. Brother Martin Harbeck, the Swiss branch overseer, thought the work in Italy would move ahead better if the office were in a more central zone in an important city, instead of being at Pinerolo. So that year an office was opened in Milan. Brother Cuminetti thought it would be imprudent for him to move to another town at that time of harsh persecution, so he remained at Pinerolo and continued to keep in contact with the brothers, using clandestine methods.

The new office was opened in Corso di Porta Nuova, number 19. It was a decorous apartment laid out in well-furnished offices. Sister Maria Pizzato was assigned to work there as secretary to Brother Harbeck.

It is interesting how Sister Pizzato learned the truth. Perhaps you will remember that at the beginning of the century The Watch Tower was distributed by the leading newsagents in the main provincial cities. Well, during the years 1903 and 1904, Maria Pizzato’s mother bought a few copies from a newsagent in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele at Vicenza, one of the largest in town. It was not until many years later, in 1915, that Maria Pizzato read these magazines again with greater attention. This time her interest was aroused and she decided to write to Pinerolo. The then Sister Clara Cerulli wrote back to her and sent her some publications. And so it was that Maria Pizzato began to appreciate the true life-giving knowledge.

The new office at Milan was registered at the local Chamber of Commerce under the name “Società Watch Tower,” a society for the printing and distribution of Biblical books and tracts. Brother Harbeck was in charge. A post office account was opened, and a post office box was rented. Everything was ready and it was confidently expected that extensive activity could now be carried on throughout the country.

The work was to start off with a campaign using the booklet The Kingdom, the Hope of the World. It was to be carried out so quickly as to take the feared O.V.R.A. (the secret police concerned with anti-Fascist activities) by surprise. There were very few Italian brothers at the time, hardly more than 50 in all. So the Berne office arranged for 20 Swiss brothers to carry out the actual work of distribution to avoid creating difficulty for the local brothers. Each one of the Swiss publishers went to a different town in northern and central Italy, down as far as Florence, to distribute the booklet from door to door, on the streets and in the public squares.

A free copy of the booklet was also sent by mail to all the professional people and intellectuals in the province of Milan. At that time the law prohibited the importing of literature from abroad. So the booklet was printed by the Archetipografia at Milan. Three copies were submitted to the Press Office of the prefettura (prefecture) to obtain the necessary permit, and this was granted.

How would the political and ecclesiastical authorities react to this theocratic blitz? Everything was ready several days before the appointed date, which was a few days before March 19, St. Joseph’s Day on the Catholic calendar. With regard to this special campaign, Sister Adele Brun, one of the 20 Swiss Witnesses taking part, wrote:

“I was sent to Turin. Brother Boss of Berne was waiting for me. He had already found me a room, and 10,000 copies of the booklet, in a number of parcels, had been stored in a local warehouse. The brother told me to get in contact with local newspaper vendors and arrange for them to help me with the distribution because the work was to be carried out as quickly as possible. This I did. Then, the brother left and I was on my own.

“I contacted 12 news vendors in all, and it was agreed that they were to receive 20 lire each to distribute the booklet on the day. I chose the most expert of them to direct operations, and promised her an extra 10 lire if she organized things well. I also chose four vendors to act as supply centers where booklets could be obtained as necessary. The activity was very successful. Booklets were left everywhere, including restaurants and offices.

“Then, at midday, the owner of the warehouse where the booklets were deposited came to tell me that he would be closed on St. Joseph’s Day, the day after. What was I to do? If I waited until after the holiday, I would give the priests time to have the literature confiscated.

“About three o’clock in the afternoon the 12 news vendors began to return, one after the other. They were very tired and wanted to go back home because they had not yet had an opportunity to eat a meal. Instead of sending them home I went out to buy some provisions and then we ate a meal together. Then I proposed: ‘If you finish the work by this evening I will give you an extra 10 lire.’ They agreed to carry on and after a short rest they went out to work again. By the end of the evening they had distributed all the booklets.”

After having gone on to take part in the campaign in the city of Novara, it was time for Sister Brun to leave. She recounted: “I took a train to Milan where 200,000 copies of the booklet had been seized, and I left the same night for Switzerland, where my husband was anxiously awaiting my arrival. The activity had been accomplished so rapidly and unexpectedly that none of the 20 brothers were arrested.”

It was estimated that, in spite of the amount of literature confiscated, about 300,000 booklets had been distributed!

The reaction was not slow in making itself felt. “Only two or three days after the campaign,” relates Sister Pizzato, “the newspapers, especially those under clerical influence, began to pour out a furious attack against us. The office in Corso di Porta Nuova was submerged in inquiries, and letters were arriving from all over Italy with requests for books or explanations.

“At this juncture, two policemen arrived at the office and ordered Brother Harbeck and me to report immediately to the press office at the questura [police headquarters]. There, after a number of questions, Brother Harbeck was ordered to close the office. It was agreed that we could have the confiscated booklets back on condition that they would be exported to Switzerland. It was explained that these measures were being taken to safeguard the prestige and dignity of the Catholic Church, in accordance with the Lateran Treaty.”

The closure of the Milan office, only a few months after it had been opened, left Brother Cuminetti alone to carry on his patient, clandestine correspondence with the brothers. He would send them occasional pieces of literature or personal letters, and, when possible, he would make visits to encourage them in the Lord’s work.

In 1935 Brother Cuminetti moved from Pinerolo to Turin, at 18 Via Borgone, where he continued to carry on his underground activity. This arrangement was maintained until Brother Cuminetti died on January 18, 1939, after an operation. He witnessed to doctors and nurses to the end, and although he was hardly 50 years old, his death probably spared him from having to endure another “odyssey” during World War II. Other Witnesses were to have the privilege of demonstrating their integrity to Jehovah during that time of great persecution.

THE GREAT PERSECUTION

Italy’s declaration of war on Ethiopia in 1935 and her decision to enter World War II in June 1940 contributed to worsening the persecution against the few Witnesses in the country. As time went on it became more and more difficult for the brothers to maintain their neutrality.

The Swiss branch did its best to keep in contact with the Kingdom publishers, and in 1939 Sister Adele Brun was assigned to visit the brothers in northern and central Italy. Her visits were spread over a period of three weeks. Some brothers can still remember the pleasure and encouragement they received from those upbuilding visits. On her return to Switzerland, Sister Brun learned from her widowed sister, Albina, that the police had constantly been on her trail.

Although the publishers were few and far between, clandestine preaching was organized, particularly by Brother Martinelli. Literature was brought into the country by persons who worked over the border in Switzerland. They would come home in the evening, bringing the well-hidden literature with them.

Then Brother Harbeck had a secret meeting with Sister Pizzato to encourage her to get in contact with brothers who had lost touch with the organization after the death of Brother Cuminetti. She was given about 50 addresses by the Berne branch office. Her stock of literature was deposited at Milan in the home of an apparently interested person, the daughter of a deceased Christian sister. However, this woman must have collaborated in some way with the police. Sister Pizzato relates:

“This new phase of the work was of very brief duration. In September 1939 we began sending off parcels. They did not exceed three kilograms [6.6 lbs.] in weight because, according to the postal regulations in force at that time, it was not necessary to indicate the sender’s address on parcels of this size. I used to pack up the literature in the evening and, so as not to arouse suspicion, I would drop the parcels off at different post offices in the morning on my way to work.”

However, something happened to spark off persecution against the Witnesses. Unfortunately, on October 28, 1939, one of these parcels was opened by a postal clerk at Montesilvano. It contained a number of booklets and the book Enemies. The contents were immediately handed over to the police, and the resulting inquiry soon revealed where the parcel had come from, although it did not have the sender’s name on it. The literature had been addressed to Sister Mariantonia Di Censo, and she was arrested the next day. Then, on November 1, members of the Fascist police, O.V.R.A., paid a visit on Sister Pizzato. She relates:

“Very early in the morning the police burst into my home at 28 Via Vincenzo Monti, Milan. There were seven of them​—six agents and a commissario [police commissioner]. They rushed into the room and curtly ordered me to put my hands up, as though I were a dangerous bandit. They soon found what they considered incriminating material​—a Bible and Bible literature!”

The O.V.R.A. had found the addresses of various other brothers in Sister Pizzato’s flat, and so it was that the police made raids on their homes. From October to the beginning of December approximately 300 persons were questioned by the police, although many of them were only subscribers for The Watchtower or had publications of the Society in their possession. About 120 to 140 brothers and sisters were arrested and sentenced. Of these, 26 were brought before the Special Tribunal as ringleaders.

Guerino D’Angelo, one of this latter group, relates what happened when he was arrested: “I was sowing corn for a family of brothers whose menfolk were already in prison. Only the old people and the children were left at home. The police arrived and ordered me to leave the seed drill where it was. Then they hauled me off to prison, where I was severely beaten.”

Vincenzo Artusi related: “On November 15, 1939, as I was going out to work, I found two police agents waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. They asked me if I was Mr. Artusi. When I confirmed my identity, they made me go back into the house and wait while they searched it from top to bottom. They turned everything upside down and pulled out drawers to find evidence against me. Finally they managed to lay their hands on what they were looking for​—the Bible and the book Enemies. They took me away without even letting me kiss my three children good-bye. I was taken into a room full of police agents where I was questioned for three hours.”

Sister Albina Cuminetti, who had just been bereaved of her husband, was arrested and tried by the Special Tribunal. She wrote:

“I was arrested and taken off to prison by car. There were two police agents, a commissario and a high official from the Ministry of Home Affairs, in the car with me. I had to smile as they were taking me away to think that four men, two of them high-ranking officials, were needed to arrest such a feeble woman as myself. I was not afraid of them; on the contrary, I earnestly spoke to them about God’s kingdom. They started to laugh, but I told them they were not making fun of me but of Jehovah God’s promises, and this cannot be done with impunity. I added that their sarcasm would turn into bitterness. In fact, that commissario and the official both died in prison after the fall of Fascism.”

FASCIST GOVERNMENT TAKES SPECIAL MEASURES

We have already mentioned the fact that persecution against true Christians became harsher after 1935. Why?

On April 9, 1935, the Cults Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a circular on “Pentecostal Associations.” At that time the authorities had not properly identified Jehovah’s Witnesses and thought they were part of the “Pentecostal” community. The circular was sent to the provincial administration centers, calling for the immediate disbanding of those associations whose activity was declared to be “contrary to our social order and harmful to the physical and mental welfare of our race.”

On August 22, 1939, another circular (No. 441/027713) was issued, with reference to “Religious Sects of Pentecostals and the Like,” which stated:

“For a number of years now, the existence of certain evangelical religious sects brought in from abroad, and more particularly from America, has been observed in Italy. Their doctrines are contrary to any established government. . . .

“The ‘Pentecostals’ are extremely active and tenacious propagandists and, after the recent measures taken against them, they try to meet together anywhere they can, even in the open countryside. More often than not, however, they meet in the home of one of their adherents, by day or night, to escape the vigilant attention of the authorities. . . .

“Recently, there have been cases of individuals called up for military service who have refused to do target shooting because, as ‘Pentecostals,’ they are against the use of weapons on principle. . . .

“It is therefore necessary to oppose these sects with the maximum determination. . . .

“To this end, we request that accurate investigation be carried out to ascertain the eventual existence of groups of these ‘Pentecostals,’ or other similar sects, in the various provinces. Legal proceedings should be taken against anyone found taking part in meetings, religious rites or propaganda activities. Instructions should be requested from the Ministry on how to proceed in other cases. Furthermore, we would recommend that all known adherents to the sects in question be kept under strict surveillance and that they and their habitations be regularly searched on the slightest suspicion, to ascertain whether they are in possession of printed matter for propaganda purposes, or if contacts with fellow believers are being maintained with a view to worship. . . .

“All the booklets so far confiscated from adherents to the ‘Pentecostal’ sect are translations of American publications, almost always written by a certain J. F. Rutherford and printed by the ‘Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society - International Bible Students’ Association - Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.A.’ . . . The booklets have the following titles . . . [a list of Watch Tower publications followed].

“The introduction of such booklets into the Realm and their subsequent circulation must be prevented.

“In conclusion, it should be observed that, although the sect of the ‘Pentecostals’ is the only one distinctly identified, reference is here made to sects and not to a single sect, because the above-mentioned booklets give the impression that other sects or currents of thought have sprung up from within the various evangelical religions originally recognized . . .”

The measures recommended in this circular were responsible for the wave of arrests that led to the mass imprisonment of Jehovah’s Witnesses at the end of 1939.

REPORT ISSUED ON WITNESSES

Dr. Pasquale Andriani, the General Superintendent of Police at Avezzano (Abruzzi), carried out an inquiry in accordance with the dispositions set forth in the previously mentioned circular. On January 12, 1940, he sent his report to the Public Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for the Protection of the State. He also sent a copy to the chief of police. The subject of his report was, “The Religious Sect of ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses.’” Here are a few of the salient points:

“In a circular issued last August, the Ministry for Home Affairs gave instructions regarding the identification of members of those sects extending their activities to the political field. These sects should therefore be considered and dealt with in the same way as political movements of a subversive nature.

“We deemed that an efficient execution of these orders necessitated further investigation to distinguish between the various sects which, in certain provinces of the Realm, are represented by quite compact groups of adherents. . . .

“The sect [of Jehovah’s Witnesses] is particularly dangerous from a political point of view. . . .

“In short, it can be said that [from the booklet, Warning] Il Duce is likened to the giant Goliath and that ‘the hateful monstrosity of today is the Totalitarian Regime under an absolute and arbitrary dictator’ and supported by the Church of Rome, ‘the great harlot.’ After having subjugated the Italian people, this Regime has embarked upon the conquest of Ethiopia ‘at the cost of so many human lives.’ . . .

“However, the most serious aspect of the question arises from their respect for the Christian precept ‘thou shalt not kill,’ and their conviction that on no account should they take up arms against their fellowman.

“They feel, therefore, that they should be exempt from any kind of military service. Their young people refuse to do preliminary training and if they are imprisoned for this stand, they again refuse to participate at the end of their sentence.”

The report also mentions a circular that Sister Pizzato used to send to the brothers and quotes a few excerpts from it. Says the report: “By means of this circular, of which we enclose a copy of the many in our possession . . . , believers were encouraged not to deprive themselves of ‘the spiritual food so necessary in these calamitous times’ and were informed that a depot had been set up at Milan from where ‘literature’ could be ordered and subscriptions for ‘The Watchtower’ magazine could be renewed. The recipients were also informed that, ‘considering the difficult situation existing in this country,’ it was necessary to be ‘very prudent’ when ordering literature. Orders were to be worded according to an agreed code whereby a group of numbers or letters were used to indicate the books required: ‘Enemies’ 1-33-1; ‘Warning’ 2-44-2; ‘The Kingdom’ 3-55-3; ‘Watchtower’ W.T.”

THE INVESTIGATORS ARE UNMASKED

The authorities were moving against us in no uncertain way. But why? Who was really behind the campaign of arrests? When speaking of the closing down of the Milan office, the above-mentioned report explicitly stated: “After only a few months the office was closed by the Milan police because of the anti-Fascist tone of the books distributed and the reaction of the Catholic clergy.” (Italics ours)

The report goes on to mention the activity of the 26 Witnesses arrested as those chiefly responsible for this religious movement in Italy.

The fact that the clergy were mainly responsible for stirring up trouble with the Fascist authorities is further shown by the false accusations contained in an article published in the Catholic journal Fides of February 1939. This article, written by an anonymous “priest and guardian of souls,” stated:

“Rutherford [the second president of the Watch Tower Society] . . . undermines the basic principles sustaining the nations and peoples. His idea is to prepare the way for an imminent world revolution during which all religions, and particularly the Catholic Church, will be overthrown together with all governments and kingdoms, so that a Utopian system of atheistic Communism can be ushered in. . . . The Jehovah’s Witness movement is an expression of atheistic Communism and an open attack on State security.”

The Fascist authorities could hardly ignore these accusations from the highly respected clergy. Jehovah’s Witnesses were therefore persecuted and accused of ‘overthrowing kingdoms and governments’ and working to establish an ‘atheistic Communist Utopia.’

THE WORK IS COMPLETELY BANNED

After receipt of this report, the Ministry for Home Affairs sent out another circular, the last of its kind, in which Jehovah’s Witnesses were clearly identified and banned. It was circular No. 441/02977 of March 13, 1940, referring to “The religious sect of ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ or ‘Bible Students’ and other religious sects whose principles are contrary to our institutions.” It stated:

“After the distribution of the ministerial circular No. 441/027713 of August 22, 1939, closer investigation has been made into those religious sects that are separate and distinct from the known ‘Pentecostal’ sect and whose doctrines are contrary to our State system.

“From such investigation, it has been possible to ascertain that the ‘Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society - International Bible Students’ Association - Brooklyn New York-U.S.A.’ . . . is an independent evangelical sect, commonly known as ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ or ‘Bible Students.’ A consideration of the statements made by many of its [members] on arrest, and an examination of the printed matter found in their possession, has enabled us clearly to delineate the characteristics of the sect. . . .

“The only law recognized by ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ is the law of God; however, they do admit the observance of civil law where this is not in conflict with divine law. . . .

“‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ proclaim that both ‘Il Duce’ and Fascism originate from the Devil and that, after a period of short-lived victory, these phenomena must unfailingly meet their downfall as foretold in the book of Revelation. . . .

“No efforts should be spared, therefore, to repress the slightest manifestations of this sect’s activity. Since it is sustained by printed matter edited by the ‘Watch Tower,’ you are authorized to take vigorous measures so that such literature be confiscated at every opportunity or intercepted should it be sent through the mail.”a

BEFORE THE SPECIAL TRIBUNAL

The Fascist Special Tribunal came into being after an attempt to kill Mussolini at Bologna in October 1926. It was one of the many measures taken to nip anti-Fascist dissent in the bud. Officially known as “The Special Tribunal for the Protection of the State,” it remained in operation from 1927 to 1943, during which period it pronounced over 5,000 verdicts, including 42 death sentences (31 of which were carried out). Its headquarters were at the Palace of Justice in Rome.

On April 19, 1940, in the austere courtroom of the Palace of Justice, the judges were seated at their imposing semicircular bench under the presidency of the widely feared Tringali Casanova. The accused persons were sitting in a row on one side of the court under the surveillance of a number of carabinieri (officers). There were four women and 22 men, the latter in handcuffs. It was a repeat performance of what happened to true Christians in the days of ancient Rome.

Sister Pizzato relates: “The trial was nothing but a farce. It was over and done with in a single day and the sentences had evidently been decided upon in advance. Thinking back after all these years, I remember one incident that seems almost laughable. I was the first one to be summoned before the court, and, as a result of the nervousness I was feeling, I jumped up and darted toward the president of the court. Evidently expecting an act of violence or a stream of abuse, the carabinieri ran after me and kept me at a distance. Prince Tringali Casanova, the acting president of the court, went livid!

“The court had assigned our defense to a number of lawyers from the Rome forum. I must say they made out a good case for the defense and spoke on our behalf with such warmth that the president, with evident sarcasm, asked one of them if by any chance he had been converted to the Jehovah’s Witness religion!”

The seven defending lawyers did their best, but the brothers were inevitably found guilty. One of the lawyers had the courage to call the 26 Witnesses, “the flower of the Italian nation.” Another asked: “If the Fascist regime is as strong as it claims, why is it afraid of these people?” Yet another said: “This trial reminds me of another one held 19 centuries ago when Pilate posed the question, ‘What is truth?’” He then made a gesture in the direction of the brothers and said: “These people here are telling us the truth and yet you want to send them to prison; these good people should be highly respected for their faith.” Another lawyer declared: “Although there are 26 of them, they speak as one man because they all have the same Teacher.”​—John 18:33-38.

Before the Tribunal, the brothers were courageous and strong, even though some of them had been threatened under questioning and feared they might be given the death sentence. Brother Guerino D’Angelo recalls:

“Only one of our group of 26 let himself be overwhelmed by the fear of man and compromised. He signed a declaration of submission to the Fascist State, which was read out by one of the judges. Nonetheless, he was sentenced just the same. Turning to the brothers, the judge commented: ‘This man is no good to us or to you.’ Afterward, this person left the truth and was one of the very few who did not keep integrity.”

These brothers were condemned to a total of 186 years and 10 months’ imprisonment. The individual sentences ranged from two to 11 years. The ruling of this Tribunal was final and there was no possibility of appeal. The brothers sentenced remained in prison until the Fascist regime fell. They were released, with some exceptions, after August 1943.

The volume entitled Aula IV​—Tutti i processi del Tribunale Speciale fascista (Court Room IV—​All the Trials of the Fascist Special Tribunal) mentions verdict No. 50 of April 19, 1940, relative to the 26 Jehovah’s Witnesses, commenting as follows:

“A religious movement that originated in the U.S.A. began to spread in Italy. Its followers, called ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses,’ underwent constant persecution from the Fascists. Nevertheless, they continued to proclaim their aversion to the war, refusing to take up arms against their fellowman and considering the Fascist regime a ‘Satanic emanation.’ The greatest wave of arrests took place in the autumn of 1939. (Formation of an association contrary to the national interest; membership of the same; propaganda; insulting the ‘duce’ and the pope.)”

Some idea of the accusations brought against the brothers can be had from the document issued to Sister Pizzato by the Procura del Re (public prosecutor’s office) of Vicenza. She had been sentenced on five counts: “Five years’ imprisonment for associating with a view to political conspiracy; one year’s imprisonment for offending the dignity and prestige of the ‘Duce’ of Fascism, Head of the Government; two years’ imprisonment for offending the Supreme Pontiff; one year’s imprisonment for offending the dignity of the Head of a Foreign State [Hitler] and two years’ imprisonment for offending the prestige of the King and Emperor.”

Since 13 of the 26 accused Witnesses were from the Abruzzi region, the book Abruzzo, un profilo storico (A Historic Outline of the Abruzzi Region), by Raffaele Colapietra (published by Rocco Carabba), declares: “[In the Abruzzi region] no single political party, not even the Communists, can boast a group so numerous and so hard hit as these meek harmless peasants from the coastal area.”

BROTHERS IN PRISON

Besides giving us an example of courage and faith, the experiences of the brothers who underwent imprisonment during the war years show that Jehovah’s loving assistance never failed them. They zealously continued to speak to others about the “good news” inside prison, and even there they underwent persecution from the clergy.

Santina Cimorosi of Roseto degli Abruzzi, who was 25 years old at the time of her arrest, relates:

“They took us away to the police station saying that we were a danger to the State because we did not agree with the war. My father [Domenico Cimorosi] was put into one cell and I was put into another. The cells were dark inside. The carabiniere switched his torch on to show me where there was a wooden bunk to sleep on. Then he shut me in. When I heard the sound of the door being locked, a wave of discomfort and fear swept over me. I began to cry. I knelt down and prayed to Jehovah out loud. Little by little my fear ebbed away and I stopped crying. Jehovah answered my prayer by sending me strength and courage, and I realized that, without his help, I was nothing at all. I passed the night in prayer and the next morning I was taken to the prison at Teramo, where I was put in a cell with my father, Caterina Di Marco and three other brothers​—six of us in all.

“From time to time, we were questioned to find out who our ‘leaders’ were. They often asked me, ‘Are you still a Jehovah’s Witness?’ and naturally I always answered, ‘Yes!’ They tried to frighten me by saying I would never be let out of prison anymore, but I trusted in Jehovah and his power to help me. Later on, an altar was placed in front of my cell door. They had it put there especially for my benefit, and for several weeks the priest continued to say Mass there. The door of my cell would be left open, either to see if I wanted to go back to the Catholic Church, or in the hope that I would disturb the service and merit a longer sentence. But I stayed quietly in my cell as though nothing were going on outside and thanked Jehovah for helping me to act wisely. Seeing that I did not react, they removed the altar sometime afterward and the priest did not come anymore.”

Brother Dante Rioggi, who had learned the truth from Brother Marcello Martinelli, related: “In prison I was not allowed to write to my relatives or anyone else. My literature, money and wristwatch were taken away. From November [1939] to the end of February, I shivered with cold, because not only was the cell unheated but the window had no glass in it. I was not even given a change of clothing, and soon I was reduced to a miserable, repulsive creature afflicted with parasites. Two or three times I was visited by priests who assured me that if I were to return to my parents’ religion I would be freed. I applied to the questura [police headquarters] and obtained a Bible. Thereafter I drew courage from the example of faithful men who had kept their integrity even at the risk of their lives and had been blessed by Jehovah. Prayer was another means of strengthening my faith in Jehovah’s promises.”

Brother Domenico Giorgini, a brother who has been faithful in the service for over 40 years and is still serving as an elder in a congregation in the province of Teramo, relates: “It was October 6, 1939. While we were in the vineyard gathering the grape harvest I saw a truck with two carabiniere officers pull up before my house. They took me back to Teramo prison, and there I stayed for five months. Then I was sentenced to three years’ exile on the island of Ventotene. There I found myself in company with five other brothers and about 600 political prisoners. In this latter group there were a number of well-known political personalities, including a man who later became president of the Republic, and I had the privilege of witnessing to them about God’s kingdom. Since the Fascist government considered many of these political prisoners particularly dangerous, the island was kept under strict surveillance. It was patrolled by a motor launch armed with a machine gun ready to open fire on anyone trying to escape.”

SISTERS IN PRISON

Sister Mariantonia Di Censo, sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment by the Special Tribunal, narrates: “I shall never forget the words of the examining magistrate. He said: ‘I have read their literature to find out what it was all about and I have questioned the 26 accused. They are all coherent with their beliefs and ready to accuse themselves to save their companions. The situation is not so serious as it was thought to be. The clergy have made too much fuss over the matter.’”

Sister Di Censo served her sentence at Perugia. Another sister imprisoned at Perugia was Albina Cuminetti, who died faithful to the heavenly calling in 1962. In a written account we are told: “Once another prisoner asked Albina what she had done. Albina replied, ‘I haven’t done anything. We are in here because we refuse to kill our fellowman.’

“‘What!’ the woman exclaimed, ‘You are in here because you refuse to kill? How many years have they given you?’

“‘Eleven,’ replied Sister Cuminetti.

“At this the other cried: ‘What next? They have given you 11 years for refusing to kill your fellowman, and yet they have given me 10 years for killing my husband. That’s the limit. Either I am crazy or they are!’”

“One day,” the account adds, “Albina had the opportunity of witnessing to the prison governor in the presence of a nun charged with the surveillance of the prisoners.”

LETTER FROM THE PRISON GOVERNOR

In 1953, when Sister Cuminetti and the other three sisters with whom she had been in prison met at an assembly, they wrote a letter to the prison governor at Perugia. In the meantime he had been transferred to Alessandria, but he eventually received the letter and sent back this significant reply dated January 28, 1954:

“Dear Madam,

“Thank you for the kind things you said about me in your letter. You had all been sentenced for an nonexistent crime and I am very happy to know that, in the very city where you were brought for trial, Rome, you have been able to meet together again, this time to sing the praises of your God Jehovah at your assembly.

“If you have the occasion to see or correspond with the other ladies who suffered so much for the God in whom they believed and continue to believe, please remember me to them. I shall always remember you and admire your faith and strength of character.

“Thanking you for the book you sent me, I remain,

Dr. Antonio Paolorosso,

Governor in Chief of the Alessandria Penal Establishments”

“The tested quality of your faith,” wrote the apostle Peter, is, “of much greater value than gold.” (1 Pet. 1:7) The brothers who maintained their integrity under persecution recognize that these difficulties served to strengthen them.

NEUTRALITY A PROTECTION

As in other countries, maintaining neutrality has served as a protection for the brothers in Italy. For example, Aldo Fornerone, a faithful 76-year-old brother imprisoned and sent into exile during World War II, relates this experience:

“Although the Nazis were in retreat, they were still holding the area where I lived, and during a punitive expedition three German soldiers burst into our house. At a glance the officer saw a Bible on the table and a picture on the wall depicting the scene of Isaiah 11:6-9 with a wolf, lambs, a lion, a goat and a calf, all together with a little child. In German he asked, ‘Bibelforscher?’ or, ‘Bible Students?’ I nodded my head.

“Then, in French, he asked my wife to give them something to eat and gave orders to his men to shut the door and stay inside the house. Again in French he explained: ‘I have told my men we shall be all right here because you are Jehovah’s Witnesses, the only people we can trust.’ He also told us he had relatives in Germany who had been sent to a concentration camp because they were Witnesses. While these soldiers ate, shooting could be heard outside, many houses were set on fire and numerous civilians were killed. At the end of the punitive expedition these soldiers left the village, and the officer shook hands with us as he said good-bye.

“Not long afterward the commander of the Italian resistance group arrived with 16 of his men. ‘Why didn’t they take you away with the rest of the civilians?’ he asked. He knew me and also was aware of the fact that I had been in prison and in exile because I would not take part in the war. They all listened as I witnessed to them, and they accepted the booklet Comfort for the People. After having partaken of something to eat and drink, they also went on their way. The commander said: ‘If everyone were like you we wouldn’t be hunted down like wild animals, and there wouldn’t be such trouble in the world.’ This experience made me appreciate more than ever before the value of maintaining one’s neutrality.”

HELP FROM THE BROTHERS

Many brothers who were sent to prison left their wives and small children at home. Did anyone help them? Vincenzo Artusi related:

“When I was exiled to another part of Italy for one year, I was very worried about my wife and three small children. I was also afraid that the clergy might take advantage of my absence to entice my wife away from the truth because she had only been interested for a short time. But Jehovah was watching over them, and with the help of the brothers who still had their freedom my family was sustained materially and spiritually. My wife made a final break with the Catholic Church as a result of the brothers’ loving visits, which were also spiritually upbuilding.”

THE WORK CONTINUES IN SPITE OF THE WAR

The fall of Fascism came about in 1943, and the majority of the brothers were released from prison afterward. Nevertheless, the war was still raging throughout the country, and while the Allies advanced from the south, the Nazi troops slowly retreated to the north, leaving death and destruction behind them.

Even during the darkest period of the war, efforts were made to reestablish contact with the brothers who were still in their homes and enjoying relative freedom of movement. Agostino Fossati, a brother who was faithful until his death in 1980, had been expelled from Switzerland because of the truth. In 1940 and 1941 he did all he could to correspond with certain brothers, sending them various publications, including Watchtower articles that he translated from French. He was arrested in January 1942 and sent into exile.

Sometime afterward, Brother Narciso Riet took refuge in Italy. Born in Germany of Italian parents from the province of Udine, he had lived at Mülheim an der Ruhr until the Gestapo discovered his activity of introducing clandestine copies of The Watchtower into the concentration camps. When it became clear that it was dangerous for him to stay on any longer, a brother working on the railways helped him to reach his wife who had recently gone to live in Italy at Cernobbio on Lake Como, near the Swiss border.

The Swiss branch assigned Brother Riet the task of translating the Watchtower magazines from German into Italian and then forwarding copies to the brothers. To ensure that the police would not intercept them in the mail, deliveries were to be made by hand to brothers not too far away in northern and central Italy.

Brother Riet bought a typewriter and immediately set to work to translate the main articles of the magazines. He was helped by Brother Agostino Fossati, who had returned from his year in exile, and later by Sister Maria Pizzato when she was released in 1943. The magazines were introduced into Italy by underground methods. After translation, copies were run off on a duplicator and given to Brother Fossati, who was in charge of deliveries. He traveled to Pescara, Trent, Sondrio, Aosta and Pinerolo to take this spiritual food to the brothers, under constant risk of arrest and imprisonment.

After the arrival of Sister Pizzato, the Nazis, helped by their Fascist henchmen, found out where Brother Riet was living, and, as Sister Pizzato relates: “One day at the end of December, his house was surrounded, and an SS officer and his men burst in. Narciso was arrested and kept at gunpoint while the soldiers searched the house. They soon found the ‘criminal’ evidence they were looking for​—two Bibles and a few letters! Narciso was sent on a long journey back to Germany, where he was imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp. There he was horribly tortured. For a long time he was kept chained up like a dog in a low narrow cell, where he was forced to remain curled up day and night. After much suffering inflicted in one camp after another, he was put to death with other unfortunate prisoners before the Allies occupied Berlin. His remains were never found.”

Sister Pizzato continued the work begun by Brother Riet, and when Brother Fossati was arrested again she also had to deliver the spiritual food herself. After making about 70 copies of each translated article, she delivered them personally, as long as it was possible to travel.

When all the lines of communication had been interrupted by bombing, she decided to send the translation of the main article in The Watchtower of January 1, 1945 (English ed.) by mail to brothers at Castione Andevenno, in the province of Sondrio. The article was intercepted and handed over to the police, so Sister Pizzato was taken in for questioning once again. She was, however, allowed to go home afterward, and she quickly decided to take the opportunity of leaving the area so that others would not be involved. That same night she destroyed the evidence of her activity from December 1943 to March 1945, and she was helped by friends to reach Switzerland, together with Brother Riet’s widow.

At the end of the war all refugees had to return to Italy, and the two sisters went back to Cernobbio. The Swiss branch gave Sister Pizzato the job of establishing fresh contacts with the brothers, now that Fascism had been definitely swept away and the war had ended. The brothers had been severely tried, but they were grateful to Jehovah and full of zeal. Very few of them had fallen victim to the Devil’s snares. Now a large doorway to vast activity was open before them.​—1 Cor. 16:9.

WORK REORGANIZED AND BRANCH OFFICE OPENED

Toward the end of 1945, Brother N. H. Knorr, then the president of the Watch Tower Society, and his secretary M. G. Henschel, made a visit to Europe. The Swiss branch invited Sister Pizzato to go to Berne to give Brother Knorr a report on the activity in Italy. With regard to that meeting Sister Pizzato writes:

“Brother Knorr realized the immediate necessity of having booklets printed in Italian so that the preaching work could be started up again. To this end, while we were waiting for literature to arrive from the United States, he left instructions that it should be arranged for certain booklets to be printed either at Milan or at Como. He also told me that, although my help in these matters was much appreciated, it could only be regarded as a temporary arrangement and that it was already planned to send a brother from the United States to take charge of the work as soon as possible.”

Brother Umberto Vannozzi, a young man residing in Switzerland but with Italian nationality also, was present at that meeting. He was assigned for a time to visit small groups of brothers to strengthen and instruct them in Jehovah’s way.

As soon as printing facilities were found at Como, 20,000 copies of the booklets Freedom in the New World and ‘The Meek Inherit the Earth’ were printed, as well as 25,000 copies of “Be Glad, Ye Nations” and 50,000 copies of The Joy of All the People.

At that time Cernobbio was a small town of about 3,000 inhabitants and hardly suitable as a center of operations in view of the hoped-for expansion. For this reason, in the spring of 1946 Brother Knorr instructed the brothers to find a place suitable to house a small Bethel family of six or seven persons. With the help of a brother from the Berne office, a six-room house was bought at 20 Via Vegezio in Milan, and we transferred the center of our newly established activity there. This took place in July 1946. That year saw an average of 95 Kingdom publishers, with a peak of 120 from 35 small congregations. This was the basis for our future expansion.

In October 1946, Brother George Fredianelli arrived from the United States. In 1943 he had graduated in the first class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead and had since served as a circuit overseer. He was now assigned to visit the brothers in our only existing circuit, which went from the Alps down to the island of Sicily.

In January 1947, two other missionaries, Joseph Romano and his wife Angela, arrived. Since Brother Romano had been appointed to be branch overseer, he immediately set to work in the new Bethel at Milan. A few months later, yet another couple of Gilead graduates were sent over. They were Carmelo and Constance Benanti. Then, on March 14, 1949, it was a bonanza when another 28 missionaries arrived in the country! They really were one of Jehovah’s provisions to start things rolling with a view to expansion. At first they were assigned to groups working in five cities: Milan, Genoa, Rome, Naples and Palermo.

In 1946, when things got off to a new start after the war, there were little more than 100 publishers scattered here and there throughout the country. They were out of contact with one another and the organization. No regular meetings were being held, although the publishers did their best to meet together anywhere they could, in private homes and even in cow stalls. They would read one publication or another, looking up the scriptures and commenting on them as well as they could. For the most part, the preaching work consisted of speaking to friends or relatives, and the theocratic structure of the Christian congregation was almost unknown.

“It was only in about 1944,” wrote Domenico Cimorosi, “that we learned that assignments of responsibility should be allocated theocratically and not by common vote. Since we did not know how to go about things, we thought we would adopt the method used to select Matthias. (Acts 1:23-26) We wrote the names of 10 brothers, chosen from among the older ones in the group, on pieces of paper that were then folded and placed in an urn. A little girl then took the papers out one by one, and the first name extracted was to be that of the overseer. I was chosen in this way, and this is how we carried on until the arrival of our first circuit overseer.”

The brothers used to build themselves up spiritually with the scarce means at their disposal, and evidently the holy spirit compensated for a great deal. Now, however, the time had arrived for Jehovah to ‘speed up’ the increase of his people.​—Isa. 60:22.

FIRST POSTWAR ASSEMBLY

After the opening of the branch office at Milan, Brother Knorr decided to pay us a visit to give added impetus to the newly organized activity. In connection with his visit, a one-day assembly was arranged. It was to be the first assembly of the postwar period. All the brothers and interested persons were looking forward to it and the meeting with Brothers Knorr and Henschel.

On May 16, 1947, they all arrived at Cinema Zara, where the assembly was to be held. At the morning and afternoon sessions 239 persons were present from various parts of Italy, even far-off Sicily, and the number of those then baptized was 31, of whom 13 were sisters. It is surprising to note that this latter group included some of those sentenced by the Fascist Tribunal and who, because of their limited knowledge of Christian requirements, had yet to be baptized. The public talk, held at 8:30 in the evening on the theme “The Joy of all the People,” climaxed the proceedings. Seven hundred were present.

The brothers had to make great sacrifices to go to that assembly, not only because they were so poor that traveling and overnight expenses seemed very high, but also because the railways were still disrupted by the aftermath of the war. Teresa Russo, an elderly sister from Cerignola, narrates:

“We were so poor at that time we did not have the money to go to the assembly. Where were we to get it? I remember, as though it were yesterday, how we began to put our sugar aside instead of using it. Then, we would find a way of selling this reserve to pay for our train tickets and overnight expenses. We filled our cases with sugar and hung sacks of it around our waists, rather like hunters who carry their food in this way. We all looked very fat. Nevertheless, this is how seven of us were able to go to Milan and have the joyful experience of seeing so many brothers there.”

Some of those present still remember their feelings when they found themselves freely assembling with brothers they had previously met in prison or in exile. Aldo Fornerone, who was present at that assembly, says:

“I shall never forget how moved I was to meet and embrace those dear brothers from central and southern Italy who had been in prison or in exile with me. Only Jehovah knows how grateful we were to be able to meet together in a country where freedom of worship had been reestablished. Our gratitude went out to Him, the great God, Jehovah, for his intervention in favor of his people.”

During the assembly Brother Knorr outlined a program for theocratic expansion in the country. From the month of June onward a monthly sheet of congregation instructions, called the Informant, was to be issued. Groups and congregations would be visited every six months by a circuit overseer, and circuit assemblies would also be held.

The Informant of June 1947 was the first number to come out, and for a few months it was run off on a duplicator. The first issue, commenting on the program of activity announced by the Society’s president, concluded with this rousing exhortation: “So, then, brothers, let us go forward in the hope that, here in Italy, the true God may have a flock of consecrated persons singing his praises together with his people in other nations!”

CIRCUIT ACTIVITY BEGINS

There can be no doubt that the expansion of Kingdom interests was greatly encouraged by the activity of the traveling overseers who visited the congregations to upbuild the brothers, teaching them theocratic principles and training them in the preaching work. Do you remember Umberto Vannozzi who met Brother Knorr and Sister Maria Pizzato in 1945? During the 1930’s he had carried on pioneer service in France, Belgium and Holland, largely underground. After meeting Brother Knorr, he went on to visit the brothers scattered in various parts of Italy, to reestablish contact with them before the arrival of the missionaries. So it was that during the months of May and June 1946 he visited the largest existing groups of brothers.

The first appointed circuit overseer, however, was Brother George Fredianelli, who began his visits in November 1946. He was accompanied the first time around by Brother Vannozzi.

In 1947 the second circuit was formed and originally assigned to Brother Giuseppe Tubini. When this brother entered Bethel service a few months later, Brother Piero Gatti took his place. Both these brothers had come to a knowledge of the truth in Switzerland in one of the many refugee camps full of thousands of Italian soldiers who had fled to escape the Nazis. Many more brothers who had learned the truth abroad came back in the immediate postwar period to bring the Kingdom message to Italy. After 33 years Brother Tubini and Brother Gatti are still in the full-time service, the former at Bethel and the latter in the circuit work.

BROTHER VANNOZZI’S TRAVELS

An account of Brother Vannozzi’s travels will help us to realize the many discomforts traveling overseers had to put up with in those days. He wrote:

“I left Como and, after all kinds of adventures, I finally reached Foggia in the region of Puglia. I looked around for the station, but all in vain​—it had been razed to the ground in a bombing raid. I took a train for Cerignola, where I was directed for my first visit, but at a certain point I was told that the train did not go any farther and I had to proceed by truck. I arrived at my destination at seven o’clock in the evening of the day after, very tired and dusty. In spite of everything, I felt rewarded when, at the meeting, a brother thanked Jehovah in prayer that after all these years of waiting, they had finally been visited by someone from the organization. The brothers cried at the end of the visit and I was also deeply moved.

“I traveled throughout Italy on roads still damaged due to the ravages of war, and I never saw a bridge left standing. Twenty-two thousand bridges had been blown up, and those that could be crossed were those that had been temporarily repaired by the Allies. I saw hundreds of burned-out railway carriages and locomotives, and all the towns had suffered bomb damage.

“I left Cerignola at six in the morning to visit the group at Pietrelcina, in the province of Benevento. I arrived at Benevento at seven in the evening, after having sat for three hours on my luggage in a cattle wagon! When I arrived at the station, I waited as agreed with a Watchtower magazine in my hand so that the brothers would recognize me. But nobody turned up. What should I do?

“Pietrelcina was still about 12 kilometers [7 mi.] away, and at that time in the evening there was no means of getting there. As I was standing there waiting, a man with a horse-drawn two-wheeled buggy offered me a lift. It was 9:30 in the evening and I started to look for the house of Brother Michele Cavalluzzo in the dark. It was no easy undertaking. But Jehovah’s angel was watching over me and did not leave me in despair. Finally, I found the house and Brother Michele Cavalluzzo joyfully had a meal quickly prepared for me. Was I hungry! I hadn’t eaten anything since the previous evening. I was also very tired and longing to go to bed, but dear Brother Cavalluzzo had many questions to ask me and wanted to tell me, from beginning to end, how he had come into the truth. So we stayed up till midnight. The next morning the telegram announcing my arrival was delivered, but I had won the race​—I got there first!

“Nearly every evening about 35 people attended the meetings, although there were almost no baptized brothers. I left Pietrelcina for Foggia at 4 a.m. I climbed up on a horse-drawn cart driven by one of the brothers and accompanied by the overseer, Brother Donato Iadanza. Although we were no longer in the 1920’s, this was the commonest means of transport immediately after the war. We arrived at Benevento at 6 a.m. but, alas, the train had already left.

“At this point someone suggested I talk with a train engineer who was taking a locomotive through to Foggia. I caught up with him as he was grumbling to some other people, who were also trying to get a ride. I heard him say he had no room for passengers. In spite of this we all climbed aboard, and Brother Iadanza just managed to run after the engine in time to pass me my case. I squeezed into the narrow space inside the locomotive with about 10 other people, and there we stayed, packed like sardines for the whole five-hour journey. We were all sweating because of the heat and lack of air and were abundantly singed by the sparks flying out from underneath the boiler. When we arrived near Foggia, the engineer stopped the locomotive in the middle of the countryside, and we all got off.

“After that I visited the groups at Spoltore, Pianella, Montesilvano, Roseto degli Abruzzi and Villa Vomano. My last visit of the series was to Faenza, where about 50 persons were attending the meetings. I encouraged the younger ones to take up the pioneer service, and in my report on the group I wrote: ‘Let us hope that one day some of these young people will decide to enroll in the ranks of those carrying on this privileged service.’”

CIRCUIT ACTIVITY OF BROTHER FREDIANELLI

Brother George Fredianelli, now a member of the Branch Committee, recalls the following events from his circuit activity:

“When I called on brothers I would find relatives and friends all waiting for me and anxious to listen. Even on return visits people called in their relatives. In actual fact, the circuit overseer didn’t give just one public talk a week, but one a few hours long at every return visit. At these calls there might even be 30 persons present and sometimes many more gathered together to listen attentively.

“The aftermath of the war often made life in the circuit work difficult. The brothers, like most other people, were very poor, but their loving-kindness made up for it. They wholeheartedly shared the little food they had, and often they would insist that I sleep on the bed while they lay down on the floor without covers because they were too poor to have any extra ones. Sometimes I had to sleep in the cow stall on a heap of straw or dried corn leaves.

“On one occasion, I arrived at the station of Caltanissetta in Sicily with a face as black as a chimney sweep’s from the soot flying out of the steam engine in front. Although it had taken me 14 hours to travel about 80 to 100 kilometers [50 to 60 mi.], my spirits rose on arrival, as I conjured up visions of a nice bath followed by a well-earned rest in some hotel or other. However, it was not to be. Caltanissetta was teeming with people for the celebration of St. Michael’s Day, and every hotel in town was packed full of priests and nuns. Finally I went back to the station with the idea of lying down on a bench that I had seen in the waiting room, but even that hope vanished when I found the station closed after the arrival of the last evening train. The only place I found to sit down and rest a while was the steps in front of the station.”

With the help of the circuit overseers the congregations began to hold regular Watchtower and book studies. Furthermore, as we improved the quality of service meetings, the brothers became more and more qualified in the preaching and teaching work.

SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE CERIGNOLA GROUP

Do you remember the Cerignola group, the one formed as a result of the preaching done by Professor Banchetti? “The spiritual condition of this group was not as it should be,” says Brother Fredianelli. He explains:

“There was a strange situation existing there. The congregation, if I can so describe the group, was principally made up of Protestants and Communists claiming to be Jehovah’s Witnesses. I had to reason with them for hours to convince them of the need to break away from false religion and to keep a neutral attitude toward politics.

“During a subsequent visit I gave the Memorial discourse, clearly explaining that only the anointed class could partake of the emblems. Everything went well until after the meeting. As soon as it ended, one of the group who considered himself in charge, openly opposed me, maintaining that what I had said about the emblems was not true. The perplexity that this aroused in the group was evident, so I thought it best to call upon those present to make an immediate decision. I said: ‘Those for the truth and Jehovah’s Witnesses follow me outside! Those against the truth can remain.’

“To my relief nearly everybody followed me outside. Only three or four stayed with the opposer, who was a prominent leader of the local Communist party. Then, with the exception of very few, those present followed me into another room and afterward continued to progress in the truth.”

FIRST CIRCUIT ASSEMBLY

In September 1947 the first circuit assembly was held at Roseto degli Abruzzi. It should have been held at Pescara, but there, as a result of clergy opposition, permission to use the hall was canceled. Undaunted, the brothers met in a private cul-de-sac that could be reached only through Brother Domenico Cimorosi’s garden. The road was closed and covered with tarpaulins, and a table was placed under a shady canopy of vines to serve as the speaker’s podium. About 100 happy brothers attended.

Usually, in the early 1950’s, assemblies would open with only 40 to 60 present, while at the public talk there would generally be an average attendance of 200 persons. The brothers thought it was marvelous to have such a number!

The work continued to progress, and in 1954 Brother George Fredianelli was assigned to work as district overseer.

OTHER PROVISIONS

In January 1945, the Society launched a public talk campaign in most countries. In Italy it could not be carried out until a few years later. The Informant of February 1948 announced the beginning of the campaign on March 28, and during the following month 13 public talks were given. Several years were to pass before they could be held regularly in every congregation.

Since it was evident that the brothers were in need of training, the Theocratic Ministry School was established in 1948. At first, the brothers held these meetings as best they could because there were not suitable publications available in Italian. In congregations where someone could understand English, the lessons were translated from Theocratic Aid to Kingdom Publishers. But in 1948 there were very few brothers who knew English. Later, toward the end of 1950, the congregations began to receive duplicated sheets containing the lessons from the book “Equipped for Every Good Work,” which helped considerably to improve the quality of the School.

In 1956 further progress was made. The Watchtower of January 1, 1956 (Italian ed.), began the serial publication of the lessons in the “Equipped” book, while Awake! of January 8, 1956 (Italian ed.), began a similar series from Qualified to Be Ministers. The “Equipped” book was eventually printed in Italian in 1960, followed by Qualified to Be Ministers in 1963, so that newly associated brothers could also follow the program and prepare for the meetings.

BRANCH OFFICE MOVED TO ROME

Since Milan is situated in the extreme north of Italy, it was felt it would be easier to cope with the growing activity if the branch office was moved to a more central locality. Rome was the obvious choice because, as capital of the country, it is also the center of national administration. A three-story house with basement was acquired in September 1948. Besides having a dozen rooms and modern facilities, it was also situated in a very attractive area with trees and gardens at Via Monte Maloia. The office was transferred there the same month. Later, the Milan property was sold, but the house at Via Monte Maloia still belongs to the Watch Tower Society and is fully utilized to this day.

The translation of the book “Let God Be True” was completed at the new Bethel and that publication came off the press the following year, in 1949. It dealt with doctrinal points that were very interesting to people with a religious background, and it has helped thousands of persons to find the truth.

CONSPIRACY TO EXPEL THE MISSIONARIES

In this country, where people had never heard anything about the Bible for centuries, the missionary activity has borne abundant fruitage. As has been mentioned, the largest group of missionaries came to Italy in the spring of 1949, and congregations sprang up everywhere they were assigned to work. People really were “thirsting” for God’s Word.

Apart from the usual problems associated with settling in a foreign country and learning the language, our missionaries had to overcome a much more difficult obstacle. This was the obtaining of permission from the authorities to stay in the country after their passport visas had expired. The branch office had filed a request at the Ministry for Home Affairs for permits for the year 1949. Instead of the permits, like a bolt from the blue, the missionaries received an order to leave the country, and only after much insistence were they permitted to stay on until December 31, 1949. By that date, they were all to have left the country. This would have been a serious blow to their activity, which had got off to such a promising start!

Why had the missionaries been ordered to leave Italy? Who was behind it all? The maneuvers going on behind the scenes were uncovered by a Yearbook (English ed.) report of 1951, also printed in The Watchtower (Italian ed.) of March 1, 1951. It stated:

“Even before the twenty-eight missionaries had arrived in Italy in March, 1949, the office had made regular application requesting one-year visas for all of them. At first the officials indicated that the government looked at the matter from an economic point of view and hence the situation seemed quite assuring for our missionaries. After six months we suddenly received a communication from the Ministry of the Interior ordering our brethren to leave the country by the end of the month, with less than a week’s notice. Naturally, we refused to accept this order without a legal battle, and every effort was made to get at the bottom of the matter to find out who was responsible for this foul blow. By contacting individuals who worked in the Ministry we learned that our files revealed no complaints by the police or other authorities and that, therefore, only some ‘higher up’ could be responsible. Who could it be? A friend in the Ministry informed us that the action against our missionaries was quite strange, since the government’s policy was very lenient and favorable as regards American citizens.

“Maybe the embassy might be of help. Personal visits at the embassy and numerous conferences with the ambassador’s secretary all proved futile. It was most evident, even as American officials admitted, that some one who wielded much power in the Italian government did not want Watch Tower missionaries preaching in Italy. Against this strong power American diplomats only shrugged their shoulders and said, ‘Well, you know, the Catholic Church is the state religion here and they practically do what they please.’

“From September to December we stalled the Ministry’s action against the missionaries. Finally, a deadline was set; the missionaries had to be out of the country by December 31. There was nothing left to do but comply with these orders. We sent the missionaries into the Italian-speaking section of Switzerland. In a few months the entire group was back in Italy, preaching once more.

“This time they were assigned to different cities, but, then, this would only make the work spread out all the better.

“And what about the good-will interest that the missionaries had found in the previous cities assigned? The ‘sheep’ were not to be abandoned. Brother Knorr approved the selection of new Italian special pioneers to occupy the homes of the missionaries and carry on the good work. No time was lost in accomplishing the transition and the work did not suffer. The result of this incident was that the Word went into new virgin fields.”

How did the missionaries manage to get back into the country after their expulsion? They did this by availing themselves of a three-month tourist visa, which meant that every three months they had to go abroad and come back into Italy a few days later​—each time with the fear that the visa might not be renewed. In certain towns the clergy managed to identify them and put pressure on the local authorities to have them sent away. In these cases they were obliged to move somewhere else, always on the alert and acting as cautiously as possible.

The clergy had made their calculations: “Get rid of the missionaries and their little group of followers will melt away like snow in the sunshine.” What they did not realize was that they could not stand in the way of God’s purpose nor combat his irresistible power to carry it out.

EXPERIENCES IN THE MISSIONARY WORK

Carmelo and Constance Benanti have been in the missionary service in Italy for over 33 years. Brother Benanti relates:

“While we were at Brescia my wife concentrated her efforts in an area where the people were under the influence of a nearby religious institution and one of the friars in particular. In spite of this influence 16 persons accepted the truth. Many years later, my wife and I returned to Brescia to visit the brothers we had helped to come to a knowledge of the truth. While we were having a meal with a group of brothers, they asked us to tell them how the work first started in the area. So my wife told them about one occasion when the friar encouraged a crowd of boys to harass her. They were hidden behind the wall of a bombed house ready to jump out and throw stones at her. Realizing this, she prayed to Jehovah that she should not come to any harm. At this point, an overseer in one of the Brescia congregations said: ‘Sister, I was one of those boys. Of course, I was very young at the time and the friar had promised us some sweets if we threw stones at you. We didn’t know ourselves why we didn’t do it in the end.’”

Another missionary narrated: “While I was at Naples I was once taken for quite a well-to-do person on account of my proper dress. As I was walking along the street I realized a man was following me, probably with the idea of robbing me. I decided to turn around and speak to him about the truth. He was taken by surprise at this and was very struck by the message​—in fact he eventually accepted the truth. I learned later that he had indeed intended to rob me. Naturally, when he opened his heart to the truth, he changed his ways. This ex-thief became a special pioneer and was faithful to Jehovah until his death.”

THE FIRST MEETING HALLS

A brief description of the places where the brothers used to meet together during the early postwar years will help you to appreciate how the work has progressed in this country since then. At one time almost all the Kingdom Halls were in private homes. One of the reasons for this was that the clergy used to intimidate the owners of suitable buildings so that they would rarely agree to rent them to Jehovah’s Witnesses. Brother William Wengert, a Gilead graduate, now in the district work, relates:

“In those days we often had our halls in the cities in basements. There was no central heating and some halls did not even have a toilet. Instead of electric lighting, we often had to make do with two oil lamps, one on the platform and one for the audience. Yet, when I think back I realize that, at the time, we accepted these things as being quite normal, and, in compensation, the brothers were always happy and full of warm love for one another. I was particularly struck with how loudly the songs were sung, and I must say the Italians sing with gusto. Jehovah has blessed the work in this country, providing very nice halls where the brothers can now meet together to praise his holy name.”

Although they had to be satisfied with makeshift halls, those dear brothers of the 1950’s were a happy crowd and showed great appreciation for the meetings. This is borne out by what Brother Nicola Magni has to say: “Often the lectern was an upturned cardboard box on a kitchen table, but it worked. The joy of the brothers present shone out of their eyes and flashed in their vivid glances across the dim, lamp-lit room.”

As a result of the conditions often existing in meeting places, unusual situations sometimes occurred. Brother Francesco Bontempi, a traveling overseer, recalls one of the first Kingdom Halls at Milan and says:

“Although the Kingdom Hall was in a basement it was very clean inside. One evening the meeting was already under way when we had an unusual visitor​—a very tiny mouse! It came into the hall and climbed up on the chair of a rather plump sister who was paying rapt attention to the program. It came to a halt near one of the rungs of the chair and sat there for a few interminable minutes. I dared not intervene because I didn’t want to interrupt the meeting, and I could just imagine what the sister’s reaction would be! Finally, the mouse skirted around the chair, just missing the sister’s feet and silently disappeared​—much to my relief. But in spite of these small inconveniences the congregation displayed much brotherly love and zeal for the service!”

According to the 1975 Yearbook (English ed.), it is thought that the first Kingdom Hall built by the brothers in the United States was that of Roseto in Pennsylvania, in 1927, inaugurated by a public talk given by Brother Giovanni DeCecca. By a curious coincidence, the first hall built by the brothers in Italy was also at a place called Roseto, Roseto degli Abruzzi. It was completed in 1953, 26 years after its American forerunner.

THE CLERGY STIR UP MORE TROUBLE

The freedom now enjoyed in Italy goes back to the important date of December 27, 1947, when the Constitution of the Italian Republic went into force. The Constitution recognized basic rights directly pertinent to our work of announcing Jehovah’s kingdom and which had been ruthlessly trampled underfoot during the dictatorship.

In spite of the new Constitution, however, difficulties were not yet over for Jehovah’s Witnesses. Although the Catholic hierarchy no longer had a dictatorship to lean upon, it could still boast powerful connections with the most important political party in the country. The clergy did their best to suffocate Kingdom interests by appealing to that body of Fascist law that was contrary to the Constitution and that had not yet been abolished.

Sometimes priests stirred up mobs of fanatics against the brothers while they were at meetings or in the field ministry. For example, in an article entitled “A Priest Stirs Up a Mob of Women and Children Against ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ at Molfetta,” the daily newspaper L’Unità of September 22, 1954, said:

“The religious fanaticism stirred up by a priest [name and address given] against honest citizens, whose only fault is that of professing a different religion from that of the above-named cleric, is of a particularly serious nature . . .

“A few days ago the hardworking and orderly town of Molfetta witnessed a most disgusting scene of religious persecution, worthy of the most obscure period of the Inquisition. About ten of the townspeople were met together as usual at no. 7 Via Zuppetta when the priest [name given] came along chanting hymns and followed by a mob of women, children and youths. He then gave the signal to start a disorderly uproar that went on for over two hours. The demonstration included a constant hail of stones against the doors and windows of the meeting place, accompanied by rowdiness and the shouting of threats and abuse from the crowd. . . .

“Obliged to come out into the open to avoid the worst, these people were subjected to ridicule, insults and threats and then surrounded by the unruly women and children. They were punched and hit by stones before they managed to reach the police station, not only to obtain protection but also to ask that the instigators of this unlawful aggression be punished. However, the official in charge, obviously sympathizing with the other side, had no intention of intervening to guarantee respect for the law and constitutional rights. So instigators and perpetrators went unpunished with the tacit approval of those whose duty it should be to safeguard the basic rights of the individual and personal safety. In this particular case these rights were trampled underfoot and violated in the most vile and degrading manner.”

The same newspaper, in its issue of January 3, 1959, published an article entitled “Outbreak of Religious Intolerance Against ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ at Lapio.” What had happened this time? On December 29, 1958, two publishers, Antonio Puglielli and Francesco Vitelli, were preaching the “good news” at Lapio, a small town in the province of Avellino. At about eleven o’clock in the morning they were confronted by a mob of youths and children led by the local Catholic priest who began shouting, “Go away!” and then, “You are ignorant good-for-nothing peddlers of lies! You don’t understand the Bible. You just ruin the flock.”

Since the mob evidently meant business, the two brothers took refuge in the town hall, and the priest followed them up the stairs to the upper floor where the mayor intervened to protect them. What about the other brothers preaching in the town? The two brothers declared: “Accompanied by municipal guards we went to the part of the town where the others were working. We found them surrounded by a crowd led by a threatening priest and it was only with some difficulty that we were able to free them and get them back to the bus that was to take us away. Once we were on the bus the priest stood in front of it so that it could not leave and tried to incite the crowd to further violence. Fortunately the people did not obey anymore.”

These are just a few of the clergy-inspired incidents. For obvious reasons, the newspapers that denounced these acts were usually controlled by the political opposition, while those controlled by the Catholic majority usually passed them over without comment.

This persistent opposition by the Catholic Church is hardly surprising. Rather, it is consistent with the attitude she has generally maintained when dealing with other religions. A clear delineation of this policy is given by “Father” Cavalli in the Jesuit semimonthly, Civiltà Cattolica of March 27, 1948:

“The Catholic Church is convinced of her divine right, as the one true church, to claim freedom of action for herself alone, so that this privilege be reserved exclusively for truth and be denied to error. As for other religions, the Church will never take up the literal sword against them but she will make use of legitimate channels and worthy means to see that they are not allowed to spread their false doctrines. Consequently, in a predominantly Catholic state the Church will insist that erroneous beliefs be denied legal recognition and that, if certain religious minorities persist, they should be allowed a mere de facto existence and be denied the possibility of spreading their beliefs. In cases where existing circumstances render a stringent application of this principle impossible, either due to government hostility or the numerical consistency of dissident groups, the Church will try to obtain the greatest concessions for herself and will tolerate the lawful existence of other cults as a minor evil. In some countries, Catholics will themselves be forced to sustain the absolute right to freedom of religion and resign themselves to coexistence with other cults where they alone should have the right to thrive . . .” (Italics ours)

In other words, the Catholic clergy clearly says to those like Jehovah’s Witnesses, ‘If we had our way we would get rid of you.’ But Jehovah has not permitted this opposition to prevail against the people who have ‘come to know his name.’​—Ps. 91:14.

EFFORTS TO DISTURB ASSEMBLIES

The clergy did everything within its power to disturb our peaceful activity, adopting various means to interrupt our assemblies. For example, priests would infiltrate the audience with hecklers, usually young people. These would go inside and sit quietly among the delegates for a while, and then they would start to upset the meeting by shouting and creating a disturbance. At this point the police would take a hand, but, instead of removing those responsible for the trouble, they would often stop the assembly on the pretext that the meeting was “disturbing the peace.”

William Wengert recalls: “When we started an assembly we were never sure whether we would be able to finish it. There were so many interruptions and difficulties in those days!”

The circuit and district overseers who organized the assemblies found a simple and practical remedy. They would see to it that there was a very efficient group of strapping ushers and put plenty of them near the entrance. One traveling overseer relates: “The circuit assembly had just begun and clergy interference was expected. The district overseer had given instructions to the ushers on duty at the entrance to stop anyone they did not know and casually ask them a couple of questions, such as, ‘Where are you from?’ or, ‘Who is the overseer in your congregation?’ Those answering in a convincing way were allowed to enter.

“But what if a troublemaker managed to slip in among the audience? In this case the ‘flying squad,’ a group of very determined-looking ushers, came on the scene and they kindly invited opposers to be silent. If the disturbance continued the ‘squad’ would very discreetly lift the heckler out of his seat and ‘help’ him to leave the hall. Since the police did not sustain our right to hold meetings undisturbed, we had to resolve the problem ourselves.”

Let us now mention a few of the many incidents sparked off by the clergy. The first of these happened at a circuit assembly held at Sulmona, a small town in central Italy in a fertile valley of the Abruzzi region. On Sunday, September 26, 1948, there were about 2,000 persons present at the public talk​—a tremendous crowd if we remember that there were only 472 publishers in the whole country at the time. What happened on this occasion? An extract from the 1950 Yearbook (English ed.) narrates:

“Sunday morning at 10:30 found more than 2,000 people swelling out the largest theater in the city, and the doors had to be closed minutes before the time set for the talk. Many had to be turned away, but not before having received a booklet; there simply was no more room left, even the aisles were occupied! Inside, an extremely attentive audience showed its appreciation and approval of truth by applauding several times during the lecture and upon its conclusion.

“However, before the meeting was closed, a young religionist who had been standing in the rear of the hall taking notes from two priests made his way to the platform, raised his hands and began shouting, demanding to be heard. The chairman calmly explained that questions of the public would be answered personally and privately after the close of the meeting. That this fanatic was bent on making trouble and using our public meeting to spread his religious propaganda was evident. No doubt he, like the clergy, was aware of the empty pews in the churches these days and was seeking other places to harangue the people. Goaded on by his sneaky, priestly advisors, he scrambled to the top of the platform as soon as the assembly was dismissed, waved his arms like a madman and yelled at the top of his lungs for attention. The two priests in the rear, ducking their heads down to hide their reversed collars, shouted and whistled in approval, hoping thus to arouse a wave of enthusiasm for their hireling. It did not work. The audience turned down his uninvited attempt to do religious proselyting. Instead of applauding and permitting him to speak, those in the audience drowned out his protesting voice with cries of: ‘Fascistone!’ [Fascist!] ‘Vergogna!’ [Shame on you!] ‘How much are they paying you to do this?’ Seeing things were not going so well, the would-be interloper soon leaped off the stage and quickly disappeared with his priestly companions. Then, orderly and quietly, the audience made its way out of the theater, accepting gladly the free booklet that was offered.”

The account ended by saying: “The tables had been turned on them and once more Jehovah gave the victory.”

FIRST DISTRICT CONVENTION

Now let us describe another episode of religious intolerance. We were to hold the first district convention ever to take place in Italy, at the Teatro dell’Arte, Milan, from October 27 to 29, 1950. At the last minute the chief of police canceled our permit to hold the convention there. The two brothers in charge of convention organization were told that the measure had been taken to avoid the danger of reaction from Catholics who might be offended by a Protestant meeting! This was absurd! It was just an excuse to deprive honest citizens of their right to meet together peaceably.

Even though these and other arguments put forward by the brothers were obviously logical, the chief of police would not go back on his decision. When, as a last resort, the brothers threatened to inform the press of this abuse of authority, he did not know what to say and threw them out of his office. Coupling what had been said with other facts in our possession, we were sure that the clergy had had a hand in the matter. This time they had devised a different method, using their influence with the police force.

Brother George Fredianelli, the assistant overseer at that convention, recalls:

“This was the situation: there were barely 24 hours before the assembly was due to begin, brothers were arriving at Milan from all over Italy, and we couldn’t find another hall anywhere! What were we to do? We were very worried. But once again Jehovah intervened in our favor.

“The morning before the assembly, Brother Antonio Sideris, the assembly overseer, and I were out looking for another hall. As we were passing by a piece of ground surrounded by a fence, we suddenly had an idea, ‘Why not ask the proprietor if he would let us use it for three days?’ He rented us the land at a very reasonable price, and off we went to look for some large tents under which the assembly could be held. Finally we found a well-known tent factory willing to rent us marquees and even to help us put them up. They were pleased with the prospect of extra publicity.

“The next problem facing us was that of getting permission from the authorities all over again. Since there was little or no chance that it would be given in time, we decided to present them with an accomplished fact. There was no other way. We just couldn’t send all the brothers back home again. We put the marquees up and organized the various departments overnight before anyone noticed, and at nine o’clock in the morning the assembly punctually got off to a start.

“The police arrived soon afterward. They jumped out of their jeep armed to the teeth. What a glaring contrast they made! What a ridiculous situation it was! Armed policemen sent to control people peacefully sitting there singing religious hymns. Brother Sideris told them that if they interrupted the assembly, they would be sorry. We would report the fact to the local and international press to show that Italy’s new constitution was not being observed and that there was a return of the Fascist dictatorship. The intimidated policemen went away to ask for instructions from higher up and later returned to inform us that we could carry on with our assembly.”

About 800 were present at the public talk and 45 were baptized. Since the tents had been put up in an area where there were several factories, the brothers had the opportunity of giving a witness to many of the workmen who took advantage of their lunch break to see what was going on. What was it like sitting inside those marquees on the cold, damp October days? Fern Fraese recalls: “As we listened to the program we kept our coats on, and many of us were holding hot-water bottles to keep warm. Nevertheless, we were very happy and rejoiced to receive such good spiritual food.”

CLERGY INTOLERANCE BACKFIRES

Another episode of clergy-inspired intolerance took place the last week in June 1951 with regard to a circuit assembly to be held at Cerignola. What happened on this occasion? The 1952 Yearbook report (English ed.) states:

“At noon two policemen came over to the hall to advise us that our private meetings there were being forbidden. Immediately we called on the local office of the commissario [police commissioner] to find out what this was all about. As we entered the police station, a young priest was leaving the place with a big smile on his face. Evidently he was quite joyful, and we soon learned that the police had given him reason to feel contented. The commissario himself made it very plain to us that our police permit was being canceled for reasons over which he had no control. The authorities gave as the ‘reason’, the unsafe condition of the hall, but no one was expected to believe that. After a somewhat heated discussion of the matter, we were advised to go to the capital of the province and talk to the provincial ‘boss’, the questore.

“A few hours later we were walking into the provincial police headquarters, and to our surprise we found there the same Catholic priest we had met in the commissario’s office, this time accompanied by an older and more important-looking priest. We found out later that the latter was the vicario of the city where we were holding our assembly. The priests were waiting to talk with the questore, but when his assistant, the chief of police, came in they asked to be shown into his office instead. A few minutes later the questore arrived . . . He clearly showed that his mind had already been made up for him before hearing what we had to say and . . . he started out by threatening us with arrest for having rented a hall that was, in his opinion, unfit for meetings. His tactics were to frighten us and make it seem as if we were the ones that had done wrong and hence deserving reproof. . . .

“We were determined not to give in to this arbitrary, fascist-like action of the police without a battle, and for more than one hour we stayed in the questore’s office and debated the legal aspect of our case.”

In spite of this, the questore did not change his decision. So what happened about the assembly? The report continues:

“We went back and made arrangements to hold the assembly in two private homes, and by means of loud-speaking equipment we had the same program in both places at the same time. The intolerance of the clergy aroused the indignation of many honest persons, even though the priests tried to cover up by announcing in church the next morning that no one should attend the public meeting of Jehovah’s witnesses that day (when they knew all the time that it had been forbidden and therefore would not be held!). . . . But here again the priests were defeated, because Jehovah’s witnesses do not keep their mouths shut but continue to expose the hypocrisy and the erroneous teachings of the false religionists, resulting in more persons of good will getting their eyes opened.”

A LONG LEGAL BATTLE

There were about 190,000 non-Catholics in Italy in 1956. At that time the Kingdom publishers were only a few thousand in number, but they were active and zealous. In contrast with the extraordinary growth of Jehovah’s people, other religions have generally suffered a progressive decline. The truth spread like wildfire, especially along the Adriatic coast in the two regions of Abruzzi and Romagna, where zealous publishers went out in busloads to preach in nearby towns until congregations were established there too.

Sensing imminent danger, the Catholic hierarchy tried to organize a campaign against our preaching work. L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican mouthpiece, in its issue of February 1 and 2, 1954, encouraged clergy and church members to oppose the work carried on by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Although the article does not mention any names, it is obvious it was chiefly aimed at the Witnesses. It states:

“We also wish to draw attention to an intensifying of Protestant propaganda, usually of foreign origin, which has the purpose of sowing pernicious errors in this country . . . We would invite all parish priests, church organizations and members of the flock to watch out assiduously for manifestations of the same and inform the competent authorities with all due alacrity.” (Italics ours.)

The “competent authorities” here mentioned could only be a reference to the police. So the Vatican was really inciting priests to have the publishers arrested. In fact, hundreds of them were taken into custody after being stopped by the police. Many were released right away; others were fined or arrested. Jehovah’s people had to carry on a long legal battle right up to the early 1970’s. From 1947 to 1970 over 100 cases involving Jehovah’s Witnesses were brought before the courts.

The publishers were accused of violating articles 113, 121 and 156 of the Fascist code of police law. These articles required that those distributing printed matter (art. 113), door-to-door vendors (art. 121) or those collecting money for a specific cause (art. 156), should be in possession of a license or enrolled in official registers.

It is evident that Kingdom publishers do not carry on a commercial activity, nor are they engaged in collecting money. As they preach the “good news,” they leave magazines or other publications on a contribution covering printing costs when the person is in a position to contribute. Our work is, therefore, to be classified as the spreading of religious convictions, or, as approved by article 19 of the Italian Constitution, a way of “propagandizing” one’s faith. Evidently, at that time an attempt was being made to enforce laws to repress freedom of worship. Finally, in 1956, that part of article 113 forbidding the distribution of printed matter without a license was recognized as contrary to the Constitution and abolished.

Almost all the cases had a favorable outcome, and the few brothers who were convicted were later acquitted on appeal. A few cases had to be examined by the Court of Cassation, Italy’s supreme court in questions of jurisdiction; but these were all decided in favor of the brothers.

Let us examine just one of these cases to illustrate how the accusations brought against our brothers were mere pretexts to stop the work. Brother Romolo Dell’Elice, who has been in Bethel service for over 32 years now, was sentenced by the Rome district court “to the fine of four thousand lire . . . for having carried on begging activities in connection with the distribution of booklets and leaflets.” Brother Dell’Elice appealed and was acquitted by the Rome Tribunal on December 2, 1959. It was acknowledged that “the distribution of the aforesaid booklets and leaflets in no way constituted begging; rather, it was part of religious propaganda carried on in favor of . . . Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

CONVENTION IN ROME!

A convention in Rome was something the brothers had ardently desired to see for many years. Even the brothers tried before the Special Tribunal had secretly wondered: “Who knows if one day we shall have an assembly in Rome and be able to meet together freely in this very city where we are now imprisoned?”

These expectations were fulfilled in December 1951 when a national convention was held on the premises of the Rome Trades Fair. Its theme, “Pure Worship,” was a significant contrast with the religion traditionally flourishing in that historic city. Since brothers from 14 other European nations were present, the convention took on an international character. The 1953 Yearbook (English ed.) published the following report:

“The Rome convention was the unforgettable event of the year. When it was announced that the president of the Society would preside at the assembly the Italian brothers determined to make great sacrifices to get there. The poverty in Italy makes it difficult for one to leave the country for an international convention. So, when Brother Knorr suggested that neighboring countries be invited to attend the Rome assembly, the response was excellent. There were about 700 or 800 delegates from England, Denmark, France, Belgium, Switzerland, and many other European countries. This made the Rome assembly an international convention that the Italian brothers will never forget. It was their first taste of the love and unity that exists among brothers who are of different nationalities and races. Now we can look forward to similarly blessed gatherings of Jehovah’s people in Italy as well as in other lands, and we know that greater efforts will be made by our brothers to attend future assemblies.”

SPECIAL BOOKLET CAMPAIGN

There were two important events in 1955. The first of these was a special worldwide campaign with the booklet Christendom or Christianity​—Which One Is “the Light of the World”? Every publisher was asked to distribute 30 copies of the booklet, and all the members of the clergy in the country were to receive a copy by mail. It required an enormous amount of work to obtain all the addresses and send out 100,000 copies, each with an accompanying letter.

Hardly any of the clergy replied to the publishers’ letters, but some did react violently with letters to the newspapers. For example, on September 4, 1955, the Catholic newspaper Il Piccolo of Faenza published an article carrying the glaring headlines “Beware of False Prophets​—Our Reply to Jehovah’s Witnesses.” In the article we read:

“Recently Jehovah’s Witnesses (called Bible bigots by most people) have sent a booklet of their propaganda to priests and religious institutions, asking them for a reply.” After having described the Witnesses as “poor fools” in possession of “incredible ignorance and outrageous presumption and obstinacy,” the article concluded by advising them to “meditate” on an extract from Dante’s Divine Comedy.

This kind of article and similar ones were written against Jehovah’s people. Sometimes the articles had the effect of arousing people’s curiosity, causing them to ask a lot of questions when they were visited at their homes.

TRIUMPHANT KINGDOM ASSEMBLY

The other outstanding event of the year 1955 was the Triumphant Kingdom Assembly. Among the 4,351 in attendance at this international convention were delegates from 32 nations, and 378 were baptized. This meant that almost 10 percent of those present symbolized their dedication by water baptism, a truly remarkable figure. Five special trains arrived from Paris full of brothers, most of whom were from the United States. Their arrival caused quite a stir because it was the first time Rome had seen such a large group of American tourists arrive all at once.

It had not been easy to get the Palazzo dei Congressi for our convention. At that time it was one of the best convention halls in Europe, completely overlaid in white marble and surrounded by green parks for the use of assembly delegates. Our first application had been accepted, and everything seemed to be going well, when, 10 days before the convention was due to begin, we were told that permission to use the hall had been withdrawn. Officially we were told that it was needed for another engagement. Finally, two days before the deadline, when it seemed the convention could no longer be held in Rome, the management informed us we could hold our congress after all.

What was behind these obscure maneuvers? The answer is to be found in an article entitled “The Tower of Babel​—A Crow in Campidoglio,” published by the newspaper Meridiano d’Italia of October 30, 1955, which declared:

“It seems that Mr. Cornacchiola, [his name literally means ‘little crow’] Christian Democrat City of Rome Councillor, is even more pro-Vatican than Mr. Rebecchini [then mayor of Rome], who has a position, be it only an honorary one, in Vatican City.

“In fact, Mr. Cornacchiola​—yes, that is his name, Cornacchiola—​questioned the Mayor of Rome to find out ‘why premises at EUR [Esposizione Universale Roma] were to be used by a Protestant sect “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” for their assembly.’ On behalf of the people of Rome, councillor Cornacchiola said he wished, ‘to protest about this and reprimand those responsible for the whole affair. Rome, as residence of the Vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, cannot tolerate similar gatherings that offend the residence of the Pope.’”

“Now,” the newspaper continues, “apart from the fact that the permission in question has been obtained from the Prefettura (in the person of the minister, Mr. Tambroni, an important member of Azione Cattolica [Catholic Action]), it should be kept in mind that Rome is the residence of the Head of State of the Italian Republic, while the Vicar of Christ resides in Vatican City.

“Among his other functions, President Gronchi has the task of safeguarding the Constitution of the Italian Republic, which states, in article 8, that ‘all creeds have equal right to be freely exercised and to organize themselves according to their individual statutes.’

“If Mr. Cornacchiola takes exception to the Italian Constitution he ought to begin by resigning from his position on the Rome City Council.”

The press also commented favorably on the behavior of the Witnesses. Il Giornale d’Italia of Sunday, August 7, 1955, had this to say:

“An impartial observer will be impressed by three things in particular: first, the exemplary behavior of those present, as they follow what is being said in respectful silence and with evident spiritual affinity; second, the fact that so many races can be gathered together in the name of a religion that seemingly inspires their thoughts and actions with as much serenity as moral rectitude; third, the exceptional number of children from one to thirteen years of age​—black, white or yellow, but all strangely well behaved or even busy consulting verses in the Holy Bible as they follow the words of their preacher.”

New publication releases were greeted with great enthusiasm, and the news that Awake! magazine would be published in Italian beginning with the issue of August 8, 1955, was particularly thrilling. Literature released in Italian included the book “New Heavens and a New Earth” and the booklets Basis for Belief in a New World, World Conquest Soon​—by God’s Kingdom and “This Good News of the Kingdom.”

TWO SIGNIFICANT VICTORIES IN 1957

In 1957 Jehovah’s people won two significant victories in Italy. The first of these was in relation to the 26 brothers sentenced by the Special Tribunal. After the fall of Fascism many people sentenced by this court had their cases reviewed and were acquitted. The faithful brothers knew they had suffered an injustice because of their stand; and, although they were not excessively worried about their personal standing in the eyes of the world, they decided to apply to have their cases reviewed to vindicate the rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses as a people. This was necessary because the Special Tribunal accused the theocratic organization of being “a secret society carrying on activity aimed at changing the form of government and spreading propaganda detrimental to the national identity,” and of pursuing “criminal intentions.”

It was, therefore, in our best interests to have this sentence annulled with a view to establishing good relations with the governmental authorities.

The case was reviewed by the Appeal Court of Aquila on March 20, 1957, in the presence of 11 of the 26 brothers concerned. Nicola Romualdi was one of the defense lawyers. Although not a Witness, this lawyer has not hesitated to defend our brothers’ rights since the early 1950’s when it was very difficult to find lawyers willing to defend us in our legal cases. For more than 30 years now, he has readily defended some hundreds of our brothers in their fight to uphold their right to Christian neutrality and their freedom to preach the “good news.”

The account of the proceedings shows that when Mr. Romualdi explained to the court that Jehovah’s Witnesses consider the Catholic hierarchy to be a harlot because of her meddling in political affairs, “the judges smilingly exchanged meaningful glances.” The court decided to annul the previous sentences and consequently recognized that the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses was neither illegal nor subversive.

The other victory was achieved at the Milan district convention at the end of June. It opened on the Thursday afternoon at the hall of the Odeon Winter Gardens, and all went well until just before the close of the evening session when something unusual occurred. Brother Roberto Franceschetti relates:

“There were still 10 minutes of the program to go when the last speaker, Giuseppe Tubini, concluded his talk rather hurriedly and invited those present to prepare themselves for the final prayer. Everybody noticed the rapid conclusion and the absence of the closing song. Why had it been left out? While we Witnesses standing by the main entrance respectfully bowed our heads in prayer, we found ourselves surrounded by individuals with their heads erect and their hats on while the prayer was said. They could only be police agents!

“Later on we learned the details. At least 30 or 40 police agents had come into the hall and ordered the convention to be closed down. The pretext was that the owners of the hall had failed to apply for the necessary permit. Those in charge of the convention tried to make it clear that the closure order would penalize the Witnesses not the owners, but all in vain. Friday morning had been set aside for field witnessing; territory, magazine and literature departments were operated by the brothers in a nearby street. Everyone was supplied with what was needed as the work was carried out as planned. But time was passing rapidly as we feverishly searched for another hall. As late as two hours before the program was due to start we had not found a solution.

“Then the owners of the Winter Gardens sent word that they had found a place for us at the Arenella Cinema. All the brothers lent a hand, and the departments were transferred from one place to the other with a will. Just in time! In spite of everything, the session began on the dot.

“But the police did not give up. They came along to the new hall to create further difficulties. I had been assigned as an usher and had been told not to let any outsiders into the hall, not even the police. I soon found myself confronted by a police commissario and two of his men. I stopped them and asked them to wait for a moment. They were not at all impressed by this and persisted in their intentions to enter. So I was forced to put my hand out and halt the commissario on a level with his watch chain. My knees were shaking but fortunately the convention overseer intervened at this point.”

The assembly was held and the brothers were exceptionally upbuilt and exultant as a result of this significant victory. However, this was not the end of the affair. An unprecedented press campaign was also carried on in our favor. Many newspapers described the way in which the police had acted as an “unheard of abuse of authority,” and the illegal intervention was the object of questions in parliament during a senate sitting. In this regard Il Paese of February 8, 1958, stated:

“The most lively part of the sitting came at question time. In fact, there were several questions on a rather touchy subject​—that of interference in religious activities. The Republican senator, Mr. Spallicci, asked to know why the Milan Questura had ordered the immediate closure of an assembly held by the cultural and religious Association of ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ (Bible students), which was being held in a private hall. In his reply the Under Secretary for Home Affairs, the Right Honorable Bisori, was rather evasive. He explained that steps had been taken on organizational grounds. In an atmosphere of general irony the government representative said the action taken was not intended to restrict freedom of worship. Rather, it had been provoked by lack of observance of public security regulations.”

As a result of this issue, the name of Jehovah and his people were brought to general attention even in high government circles! But who was really interested in stopping the assembly? The Rome liberal weekly Il Mondo of July 30, 1957, commented:

“Article 17 of the Constitution guarantees the right of all citizens to meet together in an orderly fashion and specifies in its first paragraph that ‘the authorities shall not require advance notification about public meetings.’ Moreover, the assembly at the Odeon was set aside for adherents to a religious association and since the hall in question had been leased for four days, it should have been considered a private place of meeting for the duration of the contract. Not only, therefore, had everything been arranged in accordance with the law, but some credit should have been given to the organizers for their scrupulous correctness in having notified the Questura about the meeting in due time. After all, Jehovah’s Witnesses are not shady conspirators against State security nor dangerous agitators.

“It is evident that scrupulous respect for the law and civic responsibility count very little when State officials take advantage of security regulations dating back to Fascist times to satisfy the archbishop [Giovanni Battista Montini, who later became Pope Paul VI].”

AN OUTSPOKEN RESOLUTION

The summer of 1958 was a memorable one for Jehovah’s Witnesses all over the world. It was marked by the Divine Will International Assembly held simultaneously at Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds in New York city. Among the 253,922 delegates in attendance there was a small group of Italians. They returned home bubbling over with joy and wonder at the things they had seen and heard.

The New York convention program was repeated at the three district conventions held at Florence, Naples and Messina, and those present will surely never forget the outspoken resolution entitled “How Has Christendom Failed All Mankind?” which was adopted during the course of the program.

As could be expected, enthusiasm among the brothers ran high, especially when they learned that the resolution was to be distributed during a special campaign. In December 1958 each publisher was asked to give out 100 copies, and half a million were distributed throughout the country.

TRUE LIBERTY IN SAN MARINO

As tourists motor along the main highway to San Marino, the oldest republic in the world, they are greeted by the slogan “Welcome to the age-old land of liberty.” The work of Jehovah’s Witnesses in this independent republic, completely surrounded by Italian territory, comes under the supervision of the Italian branch office.

When was true liberty brought to this little state, barely 60 square kilometers (20 sq. mi.) in size? Special pioneers began to work the territory in 1958. Over 10 years later a small group of nine publishers was established. The group gained congregation status in 1971. In 1972, the first circuit assembly was held in the republic, with 1,700 in attendance. This unusual event certainly gave the local inhabitants something to think about. Today, there are 81 publishers at work in the congregation, a very fine number if we consider that San Marino has one Witness to every 252 inhabitants!

THE NEUTRALITY ISSUE

Young men in the Christian congregation have taken to heart the inspired exhortation to “beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears” (Isa. 2:4) and have taken a personal stand to maintain their neutrality with respect to world controversies.​—John 17:14, 16.

We have already described Remigio Cuminetti’s “odyssey” and the trials undergone by young Witnesses during the 1930’s. Nevertheless, the problem of Christian neutrality was to become even more acute after World War II, when there were greater numbers of young Christian men conscientiously desiring to keep themselves separate from the world.

The first brothers sent for trial in this period were given very heavy sentences and had a difficult time of it in prison. Some were tried five and six times, receiving sentences that added up to four or more years of imprisonment. This was because when a young Witness came out of prison he was drafted for military service again and sent back to prison every time he refused to comply. In theory, this chain of events could have gone on until one reached 45 years of age, when one is no longer subject to military call-up. However, after repeating the sentence a few times, the military authorities usually exempted the brothers on health grounds to avoid making martyrs out of them. They were classified as suffering from “religious paranoia” or “religious delirium.” In other words, they were considered mentally infirm.

A few brief experiences from some of the brothers who overcame this test will be upbuilding for all of us. Ennio Alfarano, sentenced five times during the 1950’s, remembers how he managed to come through this critical experience:

“I was imprisoned at Gaeta. The captain tried to compel three of us to give the military salute, and when we all refused he punished us by having our arms and legs tied tightly behind our backs for eight hours. It was very painful. Nonetheless, we kept our courage high by prayer and by the singing of songs to cheer one another up, and it helped us. After this, we were supposed to be kept on bread and water for three days, but other brothers in the prison got to know about this and always managed to bring us enough food to keep us going.”

Giuseppe Timoncini, also sentenced five times from 1956 to 1961, recalls:

“The military authorities tried to discourage me by saying: ‘None of Jehovah’s Witnesses resist for long. At the most they go through one trial and then they decide to do military service.’ I used to answer that this was not true. At this point they would reel off a list of names of those who had agreed to join the army. Of course, the names were invented.

“To help myself bear the months of close confinement I tried to think as little as possible about the end of my sentence, and sometimes I would completely forget how many months and days I still had to serve. I think this period of my life provided much useful training. It helped me to learn to adapt myself to any situation and to be humble and confide more closely in Jehovah God.”

Gino Tosetti, who spent more than four years in prison, relates:

“My first days in prison in solitary confinement were very hard to bear. I remember what happened at Palermo. One morning the guard woke me up saying, ‘Get out of that bed Tosetti; there’s a pile of wood waiting to be chopped!’ He had had me on wood chopping every morning up till then, but that day I was in no condition to do it anymore. My hands were so blistered and sore I would not have been able to grip the ax.

“I asked to see the doctor. ‘You can only stay in bed if you have a temperature. If you haven’t got one you’ll be in trouble!’ he shot at me as he walked out. Thinking the worst was about to happen, I prayed to Jehovah to help me, and when they came to take my temperature I was as surprised as they were when the thermometer registered 39° C (102° F.).

“I had plenty of opportunities to witness. Once I was able to speak to a group of about 40 soldiers who stood around me listening carefully for nearly two hours. Our good conduct encouraged many, including our guards, to accept the truth. One morning a soldier on guard duty said to me: ‘Tosetti, please forgive me for all the bad things I have done to you. In spite of my behavior you never tried to get back at me. Last night on guard duty I read your magazine The Watchtower and it helped me to understand lots of things I didn’t think were important. I want you to help me understand them better.’

“This young soldier had been only too ready to cause trouble for me, but I was more than willing to forgive him. Afterward, we lost sight of each other, and several years passed by. By this time I had regained my freedom and was attending a district assembly when a person came up to me saying: ‘Why, don’t you remember me [he told me his name] when I used to open and close the prison gates for you and you used to speak to me about the truth?’ He had become a brother. We threw our arms around each other with tears in our eyes.”

As the number of Witnesses increased, the issue was continually brought to the attention of the public and the authorities alike. Finally, a law was approved decreeing that those who do not agree to do alternative service shall be sentenced to one single prison term, so that our young brothers are now given from 12 to 15 months’ imprisonment.

In the meantime, living conditions in military prisons have also improved. The Witnesses can hold regular meetings and have a theocratic library to help them with their personal study. They can have circuit assembly and district convention programs and even do the Bible dramas in costume. They have also been permitted to baptize some who have decided to dedicate their lives to Jehovah while still in prison. Each military prison is regularly visited by Christian elders who are specially assigned to this service.

From 1978 to 1980 there have been, on an average, 500 young brothers a year in prison on account of the neutrality issue. It is calculated that up to the present, several thousand Witnesses have kept a clear conscience before Jehovah God in this respect. In December 1980, the defense minister announced over national television that a parliamentary bill that would further improve the position of our brothers is under consideration. During the interview he described the Witnesses as “decent people” and declared that with the new law “the State will show respect for all religions.”

The conduct of young Witnesses with regard to Christian neutrality has served to enhance the esteem enjoyed by Jehovah’s people. For example, Il Corriere di Trieste stated:

“Jehovah’s Witnesses should be admired for their firmness and coherence. Contrary to other religions, their oneness as a people prevents them from praying to the same God, in the name of the same Christ, to bless two opposing sides of a conflict, or from mixing politics with religion to serve the interests of Heads of State or political parties. Last but not least, they are ready to face death rather than violate the basic precept set forth for man’s salvation: the commandment THOU SHALT NOT KILL!”

THE “EVERLASTING GOOD NEWS” ASSEMBLY

The “Everlasting Good News” Assembly was an important milestone in our history. It was not possible to hold it, however, in Rome. The Catholic Church had decided to hold the Vatican Council II in 1963, and a government official clearly told our representative that it was not considered convenient to allow a non-Catholic religion to hold a convention in Rome at that time. He also said that Rome would be considered off limits for non-Catholics in 1963. They would be allowed to visit the city as tourists but collective manifestations would be barred.

For this reason our eight-day international assembly was held in Milan, at the Velodromo Vigorelli, a bicycle racing arena. The organization of such a large assembly, expected to draw about 20,000 delegates, was a new experience for the Italian brothers. What was their most difficult problem? Brother Giuseppe Cialini, a traveling overseer who took part in preassembly work on that occasion, says: “Besides the accommodations put at our disposition by the various hotels, we needed thousands of extra rooms. So it was decided to find accommodations in private homes and special pioneers were called in to do the rooming work. It was the first time accommodations had been found in private homes in Italy and about 6,000 brothers were allotted rooms in this way.”

It was hardly surprising that the clergy soon began to oppose our efforts. A few days before the convention was due to begin the priests started to warn their parishioners not to accommodate Jehovah’s Witnesses. The parish priest of St. Andrew’s in Milan posted an eye-catching notice on his church wall saying: “Jehovah’s Witnesses are not Christians.” As a result of clergy propaganda a number of persons did withdraw their offer of rooms.

Not all priests, however, were hostile to the assembly organization, as can be seen from the experience of a special pioneer. He relates:

“I discussed the price of the accommodations with the householder and found she was willing to reduce the amount we had proposed on the first visit. She explained why. She had been to ask her priest if she should rent us the rooms and he had said: ‘By all means give accommodations to Jehovah’s Witnesses coming here for their assembly. They’re the only sincere people who meet together to talk about their God. These days we could do with more people like them​—ready to meet together with the excellent purpose of getting to know God better. Those who show Jehovah’s Witnesses hospitality are doing humanity a good turn.’”

The rooming work was also very successful from another point of view. It resulted in a concentrated witness being given throughout the city of Milan, and many householders learned to appreciate the conduct of Jehovah’s Witnesses, as a special pioneer sister relates:

“A lady answered my knock at the door. After I had explained the purpose of my visit, she said she had room for about 10 persons but that she wanted to ask the advice of a friend of hers, a police official, before making any promises. When I called back the next day, the lady welcomed me with a radiant smile and said: ‘My dear young lady, I shall be very pleased to accommodate 10 persons for you. Do you know what my friend said? Well, I want to tell you his very words. He said: “Signora, not only can you safely accommodate these people, you can give them the door keys and go away to America if you like.” I’m really sorry I can’t go away during your congress, because I would be happy to let you have the whole apartment.’”

One of our most arduous preassembly tasks was that of cleaning the cycling arena. Why was it such a big job? Brother Antonio Capparelli recalls: “Some time before our assembly at the Velodromo there had been a Catholic meeting called by Cardinal Montini, just before the death of Pope John XXIII. Every one of the Catholics present at that meeting was holding a lighted candle and therefore the steps of the arena were coated with candle wax and chewing gum. It took hundreds of brothers, some of whom came from as far away as Turin, to scrape and clean everywhere. It took a whole week to do the job.”

At this convention there were delegates from as many as 52 nations. The audience was divided into four sections, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, so that the program could be presented simultaneously in these languages. There were also a number of sessions in English. At the end of the Wednesday afternoon session the audience was overjoyed to hear from Brother Knorr that copies of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures could now be obtained in the languages of the four national groups present at the convention, as well as in German and Dutch!

A few of the 70 participants at the very first assembly held at Pinerolo in 1925 were present on that memorable occasion. As can be imagined, it was an unforgettable thrill for them to find themselves among the crowd of 20,516 present at the public talk. One of these sisters wrote: “After having attended the Pinerolo assembly, you can imagine what it meant to me to be in Milan nearly 40 years later. This experience alone would suffice to explain my profound joy.”

At the end of the convention nobody wanted to leave, and brothers of different nationalities lingered over their good-byes, rather sad that the time had come for departure. Many of us still remember the Spanish and Portuguese brothers sitting on the steps to wave farewell to their brothers with hundreds of fluttering handkerchiefs.

OVERSIGHT AT THE BRANCH OFFICE

On his arrival in Italy in 1947, Brother Joseph Romano was appointed branch overseer, and he served in this capacity until May 1954. From 1954 to 1960, Brother Anthony Sideris was assigned to this position, and then Brother Romano replaced him for a while, until, in 1964, when Brother Valter Farneti became the branch overseer. You may remember Brother Vannozzi’s visit to the Faenza congregation years before, after which he wrote: “Let us hope that one day some of these young people will decide to enroll in the ranks of those carrying on this privileged service [pioneering].” Well, one of these young people was Brother Farneti. After serving as a district overseer, he attended a 10-month course at the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead and was then appointed branch overseer. He is still the branch coordinator.

TWO PUBLICATIONS STIMULATE PROGRESS

What better means of encouraging progress than the provision of our own version of the Holy Bible together with a small handbook explaining it in clear language? It can truly be said that the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures and the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life came along at the right time to edify true worshipers.

The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures has been available in Italian since 1963, but although its publication represented a considerable step forward, it was evident that God’s people needed to have the translation of the entire Bible. The Italian Witnesses had been buying the largest quantities of Catholic and Protestant Bibles at quite high prices. At the meetings, when a speaker read a scripture from one version, the audience had to make mental adjustments to adapt what they heard to the words written in the various versions they had before them. Even when the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was used, another version had to be kept ready for quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures.

How thrilled the brothers were when they received the news that the complete New World Translation had finally been printed in Italian! The first consignment, which arrived in the spring of 1968, was very soon depleted because a special campaign to distribute these Bibles was held in the month of June. Since then over 1,600,000 of them have been distributed. God’s people have been able to develop a oneness of speech as they praise the Author of this book and teach its precepts to sincere persons.

The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life can appropriately be described as the “right book at the right time.” Its release was announced at the summer assemblies in 1968 and congregations were able to obtain copies by the autumn. This publication, of which over 4,000,000 copies in Italian had already been distributed by 1980, has certainly helped to accelerate the progress of the Kingdom work.

THE “PEACE ON EARTH” INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY

In the summer of 1969, another large spiritual banquet was held in Rome: the “Peace on Earth” International Assembly. The Spanish brothers, who were at that time denied the freedom to meet together in their own country, were also present. The Italians had their program in the beautiful Palazzo dello Sport while the Spaniards were at the Palazzo dei Congressi, where the Triumphant Kingdom Assembly had been held in 1955.

Delegates from 35 nations were in attendance, and a total of 25,648 were present at the public talk. The number of those baptized came to 2,212. No one had expected the immersion candidates to be so numerous. It was a sign that a great increase was under way.

The press gave unusually wide publicity to the assembly. The daily newspaper Roma of August 15, 1969, in its report on the baptism, commented: “Everything [proceeded] in an atmosphere of great peace and tranquillity, so much so that the carabinieri, sent there to cope with heaven knows what emergency, looked very much out of place. In the face of so much orderly patience, one could not help thinking yesterday morning, that if there were more Jehovah’s Witnesses in Italy many things, like getting on buses, taking one’s turn in public places, queuing at the stadium and (why not) traveling on Bank Holidays, would be a lot easier.”

THE WORK IN LIBYA

Libya occupies a vast, almost completely desert area bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It has a population of almost 2,500,000 inhabitants, for the most part Arabs of the Moslem faith. Before World War II and its outcome the country was under Italian rule and it had a flourishing Italian community. However, by the end of the 1960’s most of these Italians had been obliged to leave Libya.

The work of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Libya began in April 1950, when Michel Antonovic arrived at Tripoli from Egypt to carry on his secular activity. This brother’s preaching soon began to bear fruit, especially among the Italian population. So it was that in January 1953 it was decided to transfer the oversight of the work in this country from the Egyptian to the Italian branch. As the work progressed, various difficulties arose. There were arrests, court cases, confiscation of literature, and so forth.

In 1957 an application was made to have the work legally recognized, but it was turned down as a result of false accusations against us, including allegations that we were a secret society affiliated with the Zionist movement. In spite of this the work progressed until, in 1959, there were 89 publishers and one special pioneer. Soon afterward the work declined because the authorities expelled many brothers and they were forced to return to Italy.

In 1964 the work was banned, and, after the change of government in 1969, almost all the Italians, including the remaining brothers, had to leave. So, then, while it can be said that Libya produced first-quality fruits in the past, the future is now in Jehovah’s hands.

BUILDING THE NEW BETHEL

During his visit to the branch in Italy in 1968 Brother Knorr instructed the brothers to find a piece of land suitable for the construction of a new Bethel complex. A particularly suitable site was found on the northeasterly outskirts of Rome. Furthermore, the area was near the “Sun Highway,” the most important of Italy’s motorways, and therefore convenient for transport.

Plans were submitted to the Rome City Council to obtain permission to build, but difficulties arose because the theocratic organization was still not officially recognized by the State. In 1969, however, those responsible for the City Development Scheme learned from the press that over 25,000 persons had taken part in our international congress. As a result they were at last convinced that this religion had become a reality that could no longer be ignored. Finally, in March 1971 building permission was obtained and work was begun immediately. Construction work was done almost exclusively by brothers, and in the spring of 1972 the three-story building, complete with basement, was finished.

The new Bethel was inaugurated on May 27, 1972. The next day Brother Knorr gave the talk “A House for Spiritual Instruction” before an audience of 15,700 persons gathered at Flaminio Stadium. Many of these brothers went to visit the new Bethel and were very happy to see that Jehovah was blessing the work in the Italian field.

“DIVINE VICTORY” ASSEMBLY

“Divine Victory” was the electrifying theme of the national assembly held in August 1973 at Flaminio Stadium. Italy’s 30,000 publishers were thrilled to see 57,000 in attendance. The stadium was packed, and this impressive crowd was in itself a clear indication of the size of the ingathering going on. The baptism, which saw 3,366 persons symbolize their dedication to Jehovah, was the largest collective immersion ever held in Italy.

Newspaper columns totaling about 6,000 centimeters (2,400 in.) in length spoke of “an exceptionally large crowd” and of the “spectacular increase” of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Il Messaggero of August 11, 1973, stated: “All those believers, so young, so zealous, so fervent and so full of brotherly love . . .”

Il Tempo of August 14, 1973, commented: “In a world where institutions are falling apart and people tend to invent their own moral code and even their own religion, it is interesting to see people from all walks of life and very different cultural backgrounds gathered together in perfect harmony to further their belief in a sure means of common salvation.”

JEHOVAH’S BLESSING ON HIS PEOPLE

“Your blessing is upon your people,” said the psalmist. (Ps. 3:8) Do you remember the small group of 120 publishers in 1946? Well, after a slow and difficult start these loyal worshipers have been blessed and have participated in the ingathering of ever more abundant “harvests.” The accompanying charts show the marvelous increase enjoyed by Jehovah’s people especially after the mid-1960’s. In 1980 there were 84,847 publishers in Italy and in June 1981 the number has further increased to 90,191.

Not only do the figures in the accompanying tables give evidence of the expansion that has taken place in Kingdom interests, but they also are indicative of the excellent future prospects.

The 1,357 congregations now existing are organized into 87 circuits and five districts. Reliable statistics also indicate that Jehovah’s Witnesses are the largest non-Catholic religion in the country. Nonetheless, statistics apart, we realize that what is important in Jehovah’s eyes is to be recipients of his approval and blessing.​—Prov. 10:22.

THE MAGAZINES ARE PRINTED AT BETHEL

As the number of Kingdom publishers and magazine subscribers continued to rise, there was an increasing demand for more and more copies of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines in the Italian language. At one time the magazines arrived directly from Brooklyn. After 1969, they were printed at the London branch for a while. Then from April 1971 onward they were printed at the Swiss branch. But all of this created some problems. So beginning with the June 1972 issues, The Watchtower and Awake! were printed by a commercial firm in Rome. As a result of strikes and other inconveniences, this arrangement soon revealed its inadequacies, and there were frequent consignment delays.

In view of this situation the Society made plans to install a rotary press at Bethel in Rome. This was eventually done. Finally, at the end of 1975, the Rome printing plant was ready to start producing its own magazines. The January 22, 1976, issue of Awake! and the February 1, 1976, issue of The Watchtower were the first to come off the press.

During the 1980 service year over 18,500,000 magazines were printed in Italy. The average Italian Watchtower circulation reached 520,000 copies per issue, and Awake! approximately 470,000.

STREET WORK WITH THE MAGAZINES

Until 1974 the Watchtower and Awake! magazines were distributed by the Italian publishers from house to house but not on the streets or in public squares. What was the reason for this? You will remember that the brothers had been obliged to engage in more than 100 court cases to establish their right to preach the “good news.” Well, although there was no law against doing street work with the magazines, the Society’s legal advisers had suggested that it would be better to proceed by degrees. First, we wanted to affirm our right to preach from house to house, and then we could take the matter further.

Since the work was proceeding nicely throughout the country, it was thought that the time had come to expand our activities. Before starting street work with the magazines on a national scale, however, an experimental campaign was tried out in a few cities, such as Milan, Florence and Naples. In view of the excellent results and the fact that no difficulties had arisen, the Kingdom Ministry of November 1975 gave instructions on how to do street work with the magazines in accordance with the law of the land. From then on this particular work has been carried out everywhere in Italy.

THE ORGANIZATION IS LEGALLY RECOGNIZED

An attempt to get the theocratic organization officially recognized was made in 1951. A legal association was formed in Milan, and an application was filed to have it legally recognized. On February 11, 1953, the Milan prefettura (prefecture) turned our application down on the grounds that “the necessary conditions for the granting of the request” did not exist. What were these “necessary conditions” on which legal recognition depended? By law there were basically two conditions to be fulfilled: (1) the religion should be “known” by the government and, (2) its aims should not be contrary to the interests of law and order or public morality.

In the late 1950’s another attempt was made with the Ministry for Home Affairs, once more without success. The prime reason for this was that our organization was little known in government circles and was often put in bad light. The lawyer in charge of our case wrote that in Italy “the lack of a traditionally liberal spirit” was still felt.

Several years went by. Assisted by God’s holy spirit, the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses prospered, and the brothers became well known in the land for their excellent moral qualities. In February 1976 the application was renewed and, at long last, accepted. The branch office was notified of the decision in June of that same year​—the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania was legally recognized.

As a result, new prospects were opened up. In fact, at the end of 1976 we obtained permission from the State to nominate religious ministers authorized to perform marriages. Furthermore, in 1976 and 1979, two ministerial decrees were issued enabling those in the full-time service to gain access to the health services and pensions available to religious ministers. Recently, another agreement has been concluded authorizing a certain number of overseers to visit persons in prison who request assistance from Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Recognition of the Watch Tower Society means that property can now be registered under this name, and several congregations are buying or building their own Kingdom Halls and registering the property in the Society’s name. Previously almost all the Kingdom Halls were rented. Very few belonged to Jehovah’s Witnesses because the congregations were obliged to register them in the name of one or more of the brothers.

There are now two assembly halls in Italy. The first one, inaugurated in Milan in October 1977, is a former cinema that has been renovated and adapted to our requirements. The other one, on the outskirts of Turin, was specially built for its purpose and was inaugurated in May 1979.

Without doubt, since the organization has been officially recognized by the Italian government, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been able to operate with greater freedom and are using ever more effective means to further the interests of pure worship.

RADIO AND TELEVISION PROGRAMS

It is reported that there are 3,000 radio stations and 600 television transmitters in Italy in addition to the national networks. In 1976 we began to make use of these private networks to spread the “good news” more extensively. At present our programs are regularly transmitted free of charge by 280 radio and 30 TV stations. With regard to TV programs, the branch office supplies the brothers with outlines for conversations or interviews and even illustrated programs based on slides taken from the talks given by circuit overseers. Up to now, we have put nearly 200 radio and 50 TV programs into circulation.

From reports received, it seems that these programs are very successful. Sometimes they bring immediate results, as at Oristano in Sardinia, where 15 persons asked to be visited by Jehovah’s Witnesses at their homes. In three towns in the province of Salerno about 35 persons have begun to study the Bible with us after hearing our programs. One overseer reports: “In the province of Ragusa [Sicily], a publisher going from house to house met a man who said: ‘I was expecting you. I follow your program every Thursday and I was sure you would call on me sooner or later.’ He accepted the offer of a Bible study.”

Of course, there are not always such immediate results. However, thanks to our programs, in some parts of the territory many persons have a better attitude toward the Kingdom message, and when the publishers call, the householders listen with greater attention.

THE CAMPAIGN WITH THE “BLOOD” BOOKLET

In Italy the blood transfusion issue came to the fore during the 1960’s. At that time doctors considered blood transfusions to be indispensable therapy in many cases, and they gave very little attention to the risks involved. It was, therefore, very difficult to find surgeons willing to operate without blood, and publishers often had to go from one city to another to find a surgeon willing to operate. When certain emergencies arose, the newspapers published articles that amounted to publicity campaigns against us. In such circumstances, it was very difficult for the brothers to cope with great hostility shown in some areas.

By the mid 1970’s the situation was improving as more and more doctors began to understand our point of view. But there is no doubt that a marked improvement was experienced after December 1977. Why was this? In that month we held a national campaign with the booklet Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Question of Blood. In Italy the booklet was distributed to 87,000 doctors, 48,000 lawyers and magistrates and approximately 200,000 nurses. The results of this campaign were very positive, certainly beyond our expectations.

In the first place, Jehovah’s name has been cleared of much of the blame unjustly heaped upon it because we firmly “abstain . . . from blood.” (Acts 15:19, 20, 28, 29) Now the brothers themselves have a better grasp on the fundamentals of the question and are more confident in their contacts with the medical profession. Furthermore, many more doctors, willing to respect our convictions, have now come forward.

CONFERENCES ON BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS

As a result of the interest aroused by the distribution of the booklet a number of conferences were called by experts to delve into the matter. On February 21, 1978, at the well-known “Carlo Erba Foundation” in Milan, a conference was held on the theme “Surgery, Blood Transfusions and Jehovah’s Witnesses.” The conference, under the chairmanship of Professor Carlo Sirtori, a world-famous scientist, resulted in many expressions showing understanding of our position on the issue.

On April 21, 1979, another conference was organized by the University Institute of Legal Medicine at Siena. The theme of the conference, “The Refusal of Blood Transfusions by Adult Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Constitutional Order,” was introduced by the speaker, Professor Mauro Barni, Head of the Institute of Legal Medicine and a former Rector of the University. He stated:

“The fundamental question to be settled is how we shall consider the conduct of a doctor who decides to go ahead with a blood transfusion in spite of an explicit refusal on the part of a Jehovah’s Witness. Well, now, there is no doubt that such conduct is inadmissible from an ethical point of view and is certainly to be classified under article 610 of the Penal Code regarding the violent coercion to undergo something expressly refused.”

On July 7, 1979, in the small town of Ripatransone, in the province of Ascoli Piceno (central Italy), a local hospital organized a conference on the theme “Blood Transfusions and Alternative Treatment.” One of the chief speakers, Dr. Cesare Buresta, discussed the results of over 240 surgical operations successfully carried out without blood transfusions. The periodical Panorama of July 23, 1979, had this to say:

“For years they have been turned away from hospitals, shunned by doctors, left to themselves, deceived, condemned. . . . Today, however, thanks to the development of new alternative techniques, even Jehovah’s Witnesses, one of the most active and organized religious minorities at work in Italy . . . seems to be nearing the end of a long nightmare. . . . According to Dr. Buresta, the use of these [alternative] techniques, makes it possible to operate without blood in 99 percent of all cases. The results of this research will lead to considerable advantages.”

Never in our fondest dreams would we have expected so much understanding of our position with regard to blood transfusions, after the persistent unfavorable publicity for so many years. Jehovah’s people are grateful because He has blessed the distribution of the booklet Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Question of Blood.

THE “VICTORIOUS FAITH” CONVENTION

The enormous crowd gathered together for the “Victorious Faith” Convention was undeniable evidence that faith in the true God had proved victorious over the opposition of the past years. In 1978 it was necessary to hold two conventions to accommodate all the brothers, one in Milan and one in Rome. All together 111,320 persons were in attendance.

A peak attendance for a series of assemblies was reached in 1981 with 132,200 present at the 22 “Kingdom Loyalty” District Conventions.

PIONEERS A GREAT HELP

The certainty that Jehovah does not forget our efforts and the love showed for his name has encouraged many to serve him more fully. (Heb. 6:10) In 1946 there was only one pioneer in the whole country. Then, as the years passed, the number of those undertaking this precious service progressively increased. In 1980 there were over 500 special pioneers. A new peak of 2,142 regular pioneers was reached in February 1981. In May 1981, 10,051 publishers shared in the Kingdom-preaching work as auxiliary pioneers.

The largest number of special pioneers are assigned to work in the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, and, as a result, excellent progress is being made in both of these territories. In Sicily there are seven circuits and 125 congregations. In Sardinia, where the work began more recently, there are three circuits and 53 congregations, although the region is much more sparsely populated. Thanks to the work done by pioneers, 99 percent of the national territory is assigned and worked regularly. The remaining 1 percent is worked occasionally.

BROTHERS IN TIMES OF NEED

Since Italy lies along one of the world’s earthquake belts, it is hardly surprising that the greater part of the natural disasters hitting the country are of seismic origin. In May 1976 one of these quakes ravaged most of the region of Friuli up near the Austro-Yugoslavian border, causing the death of almost 1,000 persons and the destruction of thousands of homes. Although many Witnesses lost their homes, none of them were killed or seriously injured. Immediately after the disaster brothers in nearby areas set to work to care for the most urgent needs of those in the earthquake zone.

The earthquake that hit a wide area of southern Italy at 7:34 p.m. on Sunday, November 23, 1980, was of even more disastrous proportions. Tremors were felt throughout the whole country. Reports from the regions of Campania and Basilicata spoke of thousands of dead and injured while whole towns had been knocked flat. There were 130 congregations in the area, and branch records indicated that there were about 8,500 publishers and 4,500 interested persons, a total of 13,000 individuals.

At first there was considerable anxiety about what might have happened to them. By the morning after the disaster the branch office already had precise information. None of Jehovah’s Witnesses or the interested persons were among the dead or injured! In spite of our sadness over the number of deaths and the sufferings of many survivors, it was a great relief to hear that our brothers were alive.

The publishers in the stricken area showed their trust in Jehovah right through those critical moments when the ground and the buildings around them shook, and they continued to do so afterward as they faced the rigors of winter under difficult circumstances. Some congregations were having meetings when the earthquake struck. An elder of the congregation of Eboli (Salerno) relates:

“We had just started the Watchtower study when suddenly we felt the floor of the Kingdom Hall shake violently while the walls and the ceiling above our heads creaked ominously as they moved from side to side. For a few seconds we were all petrified, and before we could realize what was happening there was another more violent shock. We thought the four stories of the building were going to collapse on top of us. Those terrible moments were the longest we shall ever remember!

“As study conductor I realized I must make an immediate decision to protect those present. But what were we to do? We could either stay together where we were in the hall or go outside. I prayed intensely to Jehovah for guidance to make the right decision. Then I remembered a similar situation regarding the brothers of Gemona in Friuli a few years earlier. I invited the brothers to stay in the Hall while I said a prayer. None of the 130 present ran outside or showed signs of panic. Then, trusting in Jehovah, we continued the Watchtower study, while outside the whole town was in turmoil.

“We concluded the meeting with a heartfelt prayer of thanks, and many of those present shed tears of gratitude because we had received such evident protection. How thankful we were to have been obedient to the apostle Paul’s exhortation at Hebrews 10:24, 25! Obedience to this command had saved our lives! We immediately got in touch with our brothers in a nearby town, where 50 of them had been at the meeting. They also were safe and sound, while all around buildings were seriously damaged; and the two largest churches in town were partly destroyed.”

An overseer of the congregation at Bellizzi (Salerno) recalls: “Five minutes after the meeting finished we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a nightmare. The Kingdom Hall seemed to have gone crazy. Someone cried out, ‘Jehovah, save us!’ I shouted to the brothers, ‘Keep calm, don’t go down the stairs!’ We were all safe.”

Brothers in the earthquake area were ready to help one another, and Witnesses throughout the country and in other European nations did not hold back from contributing money, clothing and other articles. An emergency relief center was set up to direct help to where it was most needed. The first of the Society’s trucks loaded with food, tents, blankets and clothing arrived in the area the evening after the earthquake.

“The brothers were amazed how quickly the necessary help arrived,” said a traveling overseer assigned to the area. He also relates: “We immediately set up our own kitchen from which food cooked by sisters was distributed to the brothers every day. The other inhabitants of the town had yet to receive assistance and were doing the best they could by themselves. Of course, the brothers were not selfish, and food was shared with many non-Witnesses. When we took provisions to the village of Montella, families living near the brothers were given pasta, rice, oil, sugar, bread and milk while their children were given biscuits.”

In the month of the disaster a new national peak of 86,192 publishers was reached, and this means that the brothers in the earthquake zone contributed to this increase by maintaining their excellent zeal for the Lord’s work. We are grateful for the love shown to these brothers by fellow worshipers in various nations who, besides sending material help, did not forget their brothers in their prayers. Our thanks go to Jehovah because he is the One coming to our aid in times of trouble.​—Ps. 54:4.

BETHEL IS ENLARGED

When the new Bethel was inaugurated in the spring of 1972, no one imagined that only four years later it would be too small. At the time there were approximately 25,000 worshipers of the true God in the country, but by 1976 the building was already inadequate to cope with the needs of our publishers, the number of which had by then swelled to an incredible 60,000.

In 1975 and 1976 an additional two lots adjacent to our original property were bought, so that the total area at our disposition was now in the region of 14 hectares (35 acres). However, the Rome City Development Plan allowed us to build only a single farm building on the new ground. An application was filed to get the plan modified, and in the meantime we asked for permission to set up a small farm with a cowshed and barns to raise produce for the Bethel family. Work on this project was begun in 1978, and the small farming unit was finished in the spring of 1980.

Finally, in October 1979, permission to build the new Bethel home and a structure to house the printing department was received. We began work immediately and in October 1980 the printing department was finished. The rotary press and the magazine department are already installed. On the other hand, we still have plenty to do to finish the Bethel construction. Building has been done exclusively by the brothers. It is encouraging to see them arrive from all over Italy to share in this work because they realize it is necessary to cope with the expansion going on in the country. When completed, the building will contain 70 rooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a Kingdom Hall and other necessary facilities.

At present there are 98 brothers assigned to Bethel, forming a happy family at the service of their fellow Christians. Some of them work in the farming unit to cover the material needs of the family, while others are assigned to the shipping department and are busy sending out literature, magazines and other necessary supplies to the congregations.

GETTING LITERATURE TO THE CONGREGATIONS

At one time, as a result of postal delays and strikes, the more distant congregations often did not receive consignments on time. A circuit overseer recalls: “During my visit to a congregation in Sicily, I was going from house to house with a sister. I felt compelled to remark on the fact that she was distributing magazines that were two months out of date. At this the sister replied that these were the latest magazines the congregation had received.”

In view of these delays, the majority of our deliveries are made by four trucks that the Society has bought for the purpose. One of these, complete with trailer, has a capacity of 34 tons and is also used to collect the literature from the German branch at Wiesbaden. Congregation orders are delivered to more than 120 depots scattered throughout the peninsula and the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. In turn, these depots redistribute the literature locally. Under this arrangement the congregations receive the necessary spiritual food on time and expenses are reduced considerably.

GRATITUDE FOR DIVINE PROTECTION

This is the modern history of the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Italy. Credit for what has been accomplished during these years cannot be ascribed to man. Although certain individuals have been mentioned by name, this story is the chronicle of how a people came into existence, how they withstood intense opposition from the clergy and how they have prospered, thanks to divine guidance and protection.

More than 1,920 years have passed by since the apostle Paul fulfilled his earnest desire to see the Christian congregation at Rome “to impart some spiritual gift” to them. (Rom. 1:11) Since then the great apostasy kept the country in dense spiritual darkness for many centuries. But this is no longer the case. Times such as those at the beginning of this century, when the first faint rays of truth illuminated the path of a few scattered individuals, are also past, together with the wave of persistent religious persecution, loyally borne by Jehovah’s people.

The present situation is enough to gladden our hearts. Compared with an average of some 90 Kingdom publishers at the close of World War II, Italy now has over 90,000 proclaimers of the “good news”! The future is full of excellent prospects. In May 1981, Italy reached a peak of 62,068 Bible studies. And for the Memorial in 1981 there were 187,165 in attendance! In the historic city of Rome there are now 51 congregations at work.

These figures would indicate that, with divine approval, we shall have further increase that will render still more praise to our God Jehovah. His happy worshipers are ready to attribute the merit of their present prosperous condition to Him alone. And, as they look back on these chapters of the modern history of true Christianity in Italy, they express their gratitude, as did the psalmist David when he was moved to exclaim:

“Had it not been that Jehovah proved to be for us when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up even alive, when their anger was burning against us. Blessed be Jehovah, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is like a bird that is escaped from the trap of baiters. The trap is broken, and we ourselves have escaped. Our help is in the name of Jehovah, the Maker of heaven and earth.”​—Ps. 124:2, 3, 6-8.

[Footnotes]

[Graph on page 247]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

INCREASE IN PUBLISHERS

100,000

90,191

75,000

60,156

50,000

25,000

22,196

10,278

120 1,742 3,491 6,304

0 1946 1951 1956 1961 1966 1971 1976 1981

[Graph on page 248]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

INCREASE IN CONGREGATIONS

1,600

1,357

1,200

1,141

800

433

400

35 97 139 242 275

0 1946 1951 1956 1961 1966 1971 1976 1981

[Graph on page 249]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

INCREASE IN MEMORIAL ATTENDANCE

200,000

187,165

150,000

130,348

100,000

53,590

50,000

200 2,897 5,790 12,113 19,682

0 1946 1951 1956 1961 1966 1971 1976 1981

[Map on page 114]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

ITALY

Gemona

Sondrio

Aosta

Varese

Como

Gallarate

Brescia

Vicenza

Novara

Milan

Turin

Piacenza

Pinerolo

Alessandria

Bologna

Genoa

Cuneo

Faenza

Florence

Siena

Perugia

Teramo

Popoli

Avezzano

Sulmona

ROME

Foggia

Cerignola

Bisceglie

Molfetta

Gaeta

Naples

Avellino

Bari

Salerno

SICILY

Palermo

Messina

Caltanissetta

CORSICA

SARDINIA

FRANCE

SWITZERLAND

AUSTRIA

HUNGARY

YUGOSLAVIA

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

[Picture on page 119]

Fanny Lugli’s home near Pinerolo where the first meetings were held on the ground floor under the balcony

[Picture on page 127]

Remigio Cuminetti, the first Italian Witness to take a stand for Christian neutrality and the first Italian brother in charge of the work in Italy

[Picture on page 135]

Ignazio Protti and his two sisters, Albina and Adele, who moved from Switzerland to serve zealously in Italy as colporteurs

[Picture on page 137]

Hotel Corona Grossa in Pinerolo where, in 1925, the first convention in Italy was held

[Picture on page 153]

Maria Pizzato, whose mother bought some copies of the “Watch Tower” magazine from this newsstand in Vicenza during 1903 and 1904, leading to Maria’s learning the truth

[Picture on page 176]

Aldo Fornerone, who experienced, firsthand, the value of Christian neutrality during World War II, still serves as an elder

[Picture on page 193]

First circuit assembly in Italy, held in 1947 at Roseto degli Abruzzi; brothers met under a fig tree and a canopy of vines along a private road

[Picture on page 209]

First district convention in Italy, held in large tents in Milan, October 27-29, 1950, despite clergy opposition

[Picture on page 223]

Palazzo dei Congressi, where, in 1955, the international Triumphant Kingdom Assembly was held in Rome

[Pictures on page 240, 241]

Branch buildings. Upper left: The building acquired in 1948 in Rome. Upper right: The branch building completed in 1972. Lower right: A side view of the Bethel complex showing the latest additions

[Picture on page 250]

Turin Assembly Hall inaugurated in 1979

“Your Labor Is Not in Vain”

How the Corinthian congregation must have been reassured by the statement of the apostle Paul to them, “Your labor is not in vain in connection with the Lord”! (1 Cor. 15:58) As part of the inspired Word of God, Paul’s encouragement strengthens us as well. We have considered some highlights of the splendid results of the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout the worldwide field during the service year of 1981. Now we look ahead and do so with the conviction that our future “labor” will not be in vain but will likewise be blessed by Jehovah, the God whom we love and who “is near to all those calling upon him, to all those who call upon him in trueness.” (Ps. 145:18) For the accomplishments of the theocratic organization of his witnesses, we give him all the credit.

It seems that in all probability during the centuries since the death of the apostles, even since the culmination of the great apostasy by the formation of Christendom in 325 C.E., Jehovah had some on earth at all times who were loyal to his Word, his teachings, Christ Jesus as the Redeemer and to himself as the Supreme One. If this is correct, he was not at any time entirely without witnesses. Of course, such would not have been organized, at least not in a large organization. There were religious organizations, but these were and are part of Babylon the Great, false religion, and in fact Christendom is the most reprehensible part of Babylon the Great. But what a wonderful change we see in the developments of the past century!

No longer is it just a matter of there possibly being a person here and there throughout the decades endeavoring to adhere to Jehovah’s Word of truth. Rather, in Jehovah’s purposes the time arrived for an earth-wide witness to be given to all the nations in all the inhabited earth. This is a witness or testimony to the establishment of his kingdom, such being in order at the time of the Kingdom’s establishment. According to the prophecy of our Lord Jesus Christ, the witness itself constitutes a part of the sign of his presence and the end of the old system of things. When that time came with the end of the Gentile Times in 1914, Jehovah, by the direction of his spirit, raised up faithful ones who congregated and formed the basis for an organization that could, and did, become adequate to meet the demands of the times to carry on a worldwide witness work.

In the preceding report we have briefly noted the development of this organization as demonstrated in the increasing number of Kingdom proclaimers, especially since the year 1918. Why this change? Why this ORGANIZATION of united Christians, devoted to the study and application of God’s Word in their lives, including their personal participation in aiding others to come to an understanding and appreciation of the Scriptures pointing to our day? Because this is the time of the Kingdom! This is the day to which the prophets looked forward. This is the “time of the end.” (Dan. 12:1, 4) Hence, an overriding factor in the lives of Jehovah’s Witnesses is the fact that their heavenly King, Christ Jesus, is now ruling in Kingdom power and directing Kingdom activity on earth through the holy angels. Jesus’ loyal followers have complete faith in the inspired Scriptures, so they are convinced that Jehovah is the one to be worshiped and served. Those from among mankind who render such worship and service will receive Kingdom blessings of life. As they have been doing for the past decades and especially since the spiritual fall of Babylon the Great in 1919, they continue to preach the Kingdom message.

As all mankind go deeper and deeper into the time of the end, the conditions of the last days grow more and more difficult to deal with, and more critical. (Luke 21:25, 26; 2 Tim. 3:1-5) These terrifying circumstances emphasize the need of all persons to accept the help Jehovah provides through his Word, his spirit and the organization of his faithful people. This assistance through the earth-wide congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses is necessary for anyone to serve Jehovah successfully. At this stage of the affairs of man, it is absolutely impossible for anyone, professed Christian or otherwise, to stand independent of the one organization that is bearing witness worldwide to Jehovah, his goodness and supremacy in accord with the 145th Psalm 145 and, in fact, in accord with all the Scriptures.

The developments touched on by this brief report are significant as part of the “signs of the times.” (Matt. 16:1-4) We appreciate your reading the report, and as we expressed at its outset, we hope you have done so with interest and with profit. We trust that the Kingdom message will be a blessing and a comfort to you, strengthening your hope in Jehovah’s provisions and enhancing your appreciation of what Jehovah’s Witnesses are doing throughout the earth.

As Jehovah’s Witnesses, we enjoy great privileges. Our laying hold on such privileges has certainly not been in vain during the past year, nor will such be in vain during the time that lies ahead.

Be assured of our loving interest toward you and the entire association of our brotherhood everywhere in all lands throughout this earth, which Jehovah will, in his due time, make glorious to his praise.

Your brothers,

GOVERNING BODY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

Yeartext for 1982

“Become steadfast, unmovable, always having plenty to do in the work of the Lord.”​—1 Cor. 15:58.

This inspired admonition of the apostle Paul is especially meaningful to us at the present time. Whether we have been long in the truth or have recently entered the race for life, all of us need to be “steadfast,” firm in our stand, solid in the faith. We need to be “unmovable,” unwavering in our loyalty to Jehovah. Never should we allow doubts to creep in and undermine our integrity or cause us to be delinquent in observing Jehovah’s commandments.​—Eph. 4:14; Jas. 1:6-8.

One of the greatest aids to being steadfast and unmovable in our loyalty to Jehovah is “always having plenty to do in the work of the Lord.” The idle, slothful or lazy person is neither loved nor blessed by Jehovah. On the other hand, a person may be very industrious and energetically busy with his own schemes and programs—’doing his own thing.’ Or he may be burdened down with the cares of this life and the anxieties of this system of things to the extent that he has no time for “the work of the Lord.” This, too, is something to guard against. Under the pressures of the hurried way of life in this 20th century, we must not allow the everyday anxieties to overwhelm or distract us. Why were we called out of darkness into the marvelous light of Jehovah’s favor? That we might show forth the glory of his name and kingdom. Let us make sure, then, that we do not miss the purpose of God’s undeserved kindness, yes, make sure that we have “plenty to do” in serving the Kingdom interests.​—2 Cor. 6:1; 1 Pet. 2:9.

There is certainly “plenty to do” in the present Kingdom-preaching and disciple-making work. Jesus said that this good news “has to be preached first” in all the world before the end of this present Satanic system of things.​—Mark 13:10.

How privileged we are to have any share in this divinely directed work! Let us therefore work whole-souled as unto Jehovah, knowing that our labor “is not in vain in connection with the Lord.” And not just during 1982. Let us work with all eternity in view​—when the Kingdom rule is extended to the limits of all the earth, when the earth is made a paradise and the dead are resurrected. As we thus work, we will be happy and contented and above all, Jehovah’s word and name will be honored and praised.