An Appreciation​—But Why a Retraction?

IN November of last year, during a convention of Italian bishops held in Bologna, Italy, the Catholic Church launched an attack against Jehovah’s Witnesses. Under the theme “Christ Our God and Our Hope: Christians in the face of the Jehovah’s Witnesses,” priest Giovanni Marinelli charged that the Witnesses are “a peril for religion and society.” Because of their rapid growth in Italy from among Catholics, he accused the Witnesses of being ‘a virus that strikes especially those most exposed.’

Catholic dioceses and parishes throughout Italy were instructed to take an active stand against the Witnesses. How? By forming in every city groups that would “interest themselves” in the activity of the Witnesses in order to “open the eyes of our faithful.”

How has such mobilization against Jehovah’s Witnesses fared? In a letter published in the Piario Parish Magazine, one priest wrote: “Personally, I like Jehovah’s Witnesses; I frankly admit it. You are all quite free to think differently and, perhaps, even to excommunicate me. . . . The ones I know are impeccably mannered, soft-spoken . . . [and] most persuasive. When will we understand that truth needs an acceptable presentation? That those announcing the truth needn’t be halfhearted, foul-smelling, disheveled, sloppy?

“Also, Jehovah’s Witnesses come and visit you at home. At home you are in your own environment and so have an advantage. . . . You can reach out and take down your Bible . . . from the shelf, and you can check to see if a verse cited is correct, get the right sense of it, etc.

“And may I also say that what really gets me is the fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses feel personally ‘called’ . . . to the ministry of the word. That’s a task that we have long since forgotten and that has caused incalculable damage to our evangelization. ‘How will they hear unless someone announces it?’ To me Jehovah’s Witnesses seem to be ‘complete’: not just as far as home, work, and relaxation are concerned, but with regard to personal study of their creeds and how to help others understand them. But where I ‘die’ is at Jehovah’s Witnesses’ funerals. If I compare them to our Catholic funerals, where the only person who keeps quiet is the deceased, where no one has a Bible in his hands to follow the communal reading. . . . What light! What prayers! What faith! What serenity! Who knows whether I’ll be able to resist the temptation to add to my will: ‘I wish to have a Jehovah’s Witness funeral.’ Who knows!

“Their introductions are most appropriate. Perhaps it is because I also am discontented, unsatisfied, that I understand their open accusations. They say, ‘The world in which we live is full of violence and immorality.’ Do you feel like trying to prove them wrong? I don’t. . . . ‘The Catholic Church, being one of the more widely practiced and oldest of religions, has the prime responsibility for such degradation.’ Will you raise a voice in dissent? I won’t. Nice people, well-mannered, . . . dedicated. Jehovah’s Witnesses have the courage that comes with logic. They conclude by saying, ‘So, leave your churches and come with us.’

“I recognize that for me to leave the religion I’ve known since I sucked mother’s milk, and embrace another, would be lacerating. But if such was reasonable why not take this step? Come to think of it, changing religions is not at all humiliating. . . . It would be humiliating to leave a religion only to find a void, to cut loose the anchor only to begin drifting aimlessly. But what if I thought my laundry was white only because I hadn’t seen yours? It seems reasonable to me to choose a better detergent, one that washes whiter than white! The aim of missionaries is one, and one only: change people’s religion. . . . Why shouldn’t I change religion if my conscience tells me to? If the preacher convinces me to? If it is reasonable to do so? If the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses is more correct . . . , then . . . I’ll go along with Jehovah’s Witnesses. . . . I want to know if Jehovah’s Witnesses are right.”

Concluding his letter, the priest stressed that the Witnesses’ use of Jehovah instead of Yahweh when pronouncing the divine name is “no reason for me to lose the strong liking I have for Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Why? “After all,” he adds, “they’re God’s Witnesses and that’s what counts!”

Postscript: The priest’s letter apparently raised a storm in higher circles of the hierarchy. In a later issue of the parish magazine, he retracted his comments about Jehovah’s Witnesses.