200    The Bible and the Future of the World 

the Church must remain in Rome. Not until the mid 25th century, when the 

Millennium of peace and holiness begins, will the center of authority in the 

Church be moved from Rome to Jerusalem. 

9.   Italy will be punished for her ambition in wanting to shake off the yoke 

of the Lord of Lords; also she will be delivered over to war; blood will flow 

on all sides; the Churches will be closed or desecrated; the priests, the 

religious will be hunted; they will be made to die, and to die a cruel death. 

Several will abandon the faith, and the number of priests and religious who 

will separate themselves from the true religion will be great; Among these 

persons there will be found even some Bishops.  

    The yoke of the Lord (cf. Mt 11:25, 29 30) is the teachings of Jesus and of 

the Catholic Church. Italy will try to shake off the Lord's yoke by endorsing 

government and laws which reject the teachings of Christ and His Church. 

And many will reject the true teachings of the Church by the way they live 

their lives. 

    The yoke of the Lord which Italy in particular bears is the presence of the 

Vatican within Rome and Italy. The people of Italy are honored by having 

the dwelling place of the Pope and the seat of authority in the Church within 

their own country. In July of 2013, Rome and Vatican City will be 

completely destroyed by a nuclear weapon. After that happens, Italy will try 

to keep the Pope and the Holy See from continuing to dwell in Italy. People 

will say that it was because the Vatican was in Rome that this destruction 

came upon their country. They will not want to admit that this was a 

punishment from God. They will not want to continue to have the Holy See 

within Rome or Italy. God will punish Italy for this ambition by  means of 

war and many other afflictions. 

    When the Arab nations invade and fight against the nations of Europe, 

Italy will suffer greatly. This is God's punishment against the people of Italy 

who have rejected the teachings of the Church. God also brings the Arabs to 

punish the other Christian nations for similar reasons. 

    The Virgin Mary describes a persecution of the Church which will occur 

in Italy as well as in other countries. Churches will be closed or desecrated 

by the Arab forces. Many priests and religious will suffer martyrdom for 

Christ. However, some others will abandon the Faith, rather  than suffer 

with Christ and His followers. Past persecutions of Christians have also seen 

Christians who chose martyrdom as well as those who abandoned Christ 

when faced with persecution. In times of great suffering, it is more easily 

seen who is faithful to God and who is not. 

    In this future persecution though, there will also be many priests and 

religious who neither accept martyrdom for Christ nor completely renounce