General elections took place in Italy during the last weekend of September. The turnout for voting was 64% — the lowest in nearly fifty years. In a speech on Sunday night, Giorgia Meloni, head of the elected leadership party, thanked voters who showed confidence in her party and emphasised her goal of uniting citizens. Meloni is set to become Italy’s first female prime minister but is facing criticism for her “far-right” conservatism. The elected party, Brothers of Italy, was formed by supporters of Benito Mussolini after World War II. Supporters of the modern Brothers of Italy party and Giorgia Meloni emphatically claim that they are not fascists. Despite these claims, some are concerned that although the modern party may not be fascist, their conservative leanings may influence them to implement policies that will lead the country into an illiberal democracy.
Beginning more than 2,000 years ago, this region has greatly contributed to world history through law and legal processes, the origin of many modern languages, as well as culture. In more recent history, the Italians suffered under the fascist dictatorship from the 1920s-1940s, and it is no wonder that many are wary of any government party with historical links to such a dictatorship. While Roman Catholicism has a strong foothold in Italy, it is more cultural than an active belief system with only 3% of professing Catholics practising the religion. Evangelical Christianity has even fewer followers with 1% of the 60,000,000 population. Please be in prayer for the following:
- the missionaries in Italy to be faithful and effective witnesses in sharing the Gospel
- that those who are seeking will find the Truth
- more missionaries to reach the millions in Italy
