QUARTERLY 
REVIEll 
ORGAN OF THE SOUTHERN EUROPEAN DIVISION OF THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF S.D.A. 
Vol. XXIX �
December 1962 �
Numbers 3/4 
13th Sabbath Overflow 
Offering to Southern European Division 
By L. Belloy 
We here in the Southern European 
Division rejoice that our field will 
benefit from the i3th Sabbath Over-
flow Offering this quarter. We have 
certain plans in mind, which can be 
realized only by the help of this 
offering. We would therefore like to 
ask all our readers to help us make 
it a large one, that these projects may 
be achieved and many souls won for 
the kingdom of God. 
We would like to remind the 
readers of the Quarterly Review of 
the plans we have in mind: 
1. The opening of a new mission 
station in the southern part of 
Angola, Portuguese West Africa. 
We have more than 15 000 mem-
bers in Angola. From 1958 to 1962 
we have, by the help of God, been 
able to baptize 1300 to 1700 persons 
per year. It is the most promising 
field in our Division. Unfortunately, 
the message has not yet been preached 
in the vast territories of the southern 
part of Angola, and we long to see 
one or more mission stations estab-
lished there before the doors are closed. 
2. A new church and evangelistic 
center in Paris. 
Paris, the capital of France, has 
about five millioninhabitants. The 
light of the gospel was first made to 
shine in this City of Lights at the 
beginning of the century, but we 
wish to see it blaze with much greater 
force. 
The two present churches are 
getting far too small. It is absolutely 
necessary to think of a third church, 
which we plan to build in the north-
ern part of the city, where the 
message has not made an impact at 
all, and which will serve at the same 
time as an evangelistic center. Build-
ing sites are very expensive in Paris, 
and the Franco-Belgian Union will 
not be able to purchase one without 
substantial aid. 
3. Enlargement of the Phoenix 
School on Mauritius, Indian Ocean. 
I had the opportunity to see our 
school on Mauritius just after the 
terrible cyclone had laid waste a 
great part of the island. Many 
families had lost all their belongings. 
We were surprised to learn that, in 
spite of their losses, the parents did 
not take away the children from 
our school, even though they have 
to pay a school fee here, while 
the government schools offer free 
tuition. 
Our institution enjoys a good 
reputation. It is appreciated by the 
Moslems, who gladly send their 
children. The education they receive 
here ist the most effective means by 
which we can reach the Moslems 
with the gospel of grace. 
The place is now inadequate. It is 
necessary to modernize what we 
have, and to enlarge in order to be 
able to receive more students. 
These are the needs of our field, 
expressed in a few words. We know 
that you will respond generously, 
and we thank you in advance for the 
sacrifices you will make, and which 
will permit us to realize our projects. 
The precious souls won for Christ 
as well as our deep gratitude will be 
your reward. 
1 
The Italian group in Biel 
An Italian Church 
Established in Switzerland �
By Hugo Moschinger 
January 7, 1962, was a day long 
to be remembered by God's people 
in Biel, Switzerland. On that day 
we had the pleasure of celebrating 
the inauguration of an Italian church. 
Elder G. Cupertino, secretary of the 
Ministerial Association of the South-
ern European Division, and Ch. Mon-
nier, president of the Swiss Union 
Conference, were present at this 
solemn occasion. 
The first seeds for this church were 
sown when Mrs. W. Morosoli one 
day in July, 1959, began a conversation 
with an Italian lady in one of the 
public parks in Biel, this talk leading 
to regular Bible studies. The Italian 
lady became very interested in the 
truth and was later baptized in Italy. 
During her absence from Switzer-
land, her son and his wife remained 
in Biel and received instructions as 
regards our message from Brother 
Willi Morosoli, and the couple began 
attending our church services, which 
are conducted here both in German 
and French. Now and again other 
Italians working in Biel would come 
along and attend the services. Results 
were soon forthcoming, and on 
January 13, 1951, an Italian Sabbath 
school class was organized with six 
persons attending regularly, and a 
little later that same year a regular 
church service was conducted for 
them in the Italian language. On May 
4, 1951, six Italians were baptized, 
and two more joined the small 
group later that year. 
On September 27, 1952, Brother 
and Sister W. Morosoli left the Biel 
church to take up work in the Tessin, 
but by that time the small group of 
Italian believers was feeling thor- 
oughly at home with their French-
and German-speaking friends in the 
Biel church. 
Brother Ettorino Galli, the local 
elder, decided to take special care 
of the Italian members, and he knew 
that only by working was it possible 
to keep the small group alive and 
growing. He began to labour in 
earnest for the progress of the work 
of God among the Italians, and he 
was well supported in this by the 
other church members. During the 
day he worked in a watch factory, 
and in the evenings as a furrier, but 
in spite of all these activities he found 
time to practice what he had learned 
from a lay preachers' course. He 
organized public meetings, gave Bible 
studies, preached often on the Sab-
baths, and the Lord blessed his 
efforts. 
Last fall the other language groups 
of the Biel church suggested that 
it would be much better for the 
development of the Italian group, if its 
members were organized into their 
own little church. In this way many 
of the important church duties would 
be taken over by the Italian-speaking 
members. 
With God's blessings and the good 
cooperation between Brethern Galli 
and Jacques Frei, the evangelist, 
five men and three women were 
baptized on November 4, 1961; so 
now there were twenty-seven grown 
baptized members and eleven chil-
dren. It was also found possible to 
make room for a separate meeting 
hall, seating fifty persons, in the 
same church building in Biel where 
the German- and French-speaking 
members meet. 
Then came the big day, January 7, 
1962, on which an Italian church was 
organized here. Many friends were 
present to celebrate the happy 
occasion. 
2 
M. Fridlin 
Re-elected President 
B. E. Seton 
Newly-elected 
S. S. and Medical Secretary 
H. Stoeger 
Newly-elected Y. P. M.V. 
Secretary 
Other departmental men re-elected 
When the roll call was made, six-
teen persons rose, thus testifying 
that they wanted to live after Bible 
rules and remain good and faithful 
members of the newly organized 
Italian church. The eleven absentees 
were for the greatest part Italian 
workers, who had gone to their 
homeland for the Christmas vaca-
tion. 
After Elder Cupertino's encourag-
ing words, Brethren Werner Ruf and 
Jacques Frei spoke, as they are now 
in charge of this newly organized 
church. Brother Galli, ordained elder 
of the Italian church, depicted the 
history of its origin, and told of the 
many victories won, but also of 
tears and struggles. During it all the 
Lord's help and succor was felt, 
and He alone is worthy of 
praise. 
In Biel there are now three different 
church groups meeting Sabbath after 
Sabbath under one roof, to hear the 
Word of God spoken in French, 
German and Italian. In spite of the 
three different laguages, the love of 
God is prevalent, and the three 
groups are closely knit together in 
Christ. 
To God we direct our thanks and 
praise, and from the bottom of our 
hearts we wish that the experience 
of Biel would be repeated in many 
other towns, and that yet many more 
Italian workers may find their Saviour 
and best freind, Jesus Christ, in 
Switzerland. 
General Conference 1962 —Election Results 
W. A. Wild 
Re-elected Secretary 
SOUTHERN EUROPEAN 
DIVISION 
B. J. Kohler 
Re-elected Treasurer 
3 
The new church in Gravina 
News From Rome �
By G. Cavalcante 
Even though 1961 was not a 
particularly outstanding year for 
the Italian Union Mission, our work 
did, however, progress, and I think 
the readers of the Quarterly Review 
might be interested in news from 
this field, especially since it comes 
directly from Rome. It might be 
possible to forget the names of other 
cities without impairing our general 
knowledge, but with Rome it is 
different. If we would by-pass it, 
the old and modern history of the 
world would be very much curtailed. 
In the first century Rome was already 
the center of the world, and when we 
study the Bible, and the New Testa-
ment in particular, this prophetic 
name is repeated again and again, 
even though it often is used to 
describe Babylon, chaos, decay, ruin, 
corruption and apostasy. 
Rome seems always to have pos-
sessed a very great power of attrac-
tion, and many people are drawn 
to this city by various motives, and 
with widely different results. 
In x961 it was 1900 years since the 
apostle Paul arrived in Rome, driven 
by Christ's commission and his own 
wish to go to this famous city: 
"For God is my witness, whom I 
serve with my spirit in the gospel 
of his Son, that without ceasing I 
make mention of you always in my 
prayers;. Making request, if by any 
means now at length I might have a 
prosperous journey by the will of 
God to come unto" you. For I long 
to see you, that I may impart unto you 
some spiritual gift, to the end ye may 
be established; ... So, as much as 
in me is, I am ready to preach the 
gospel to you that are at Rome also" 
(Rom. 9-15). 
Today the pope is receiving cour-
tesy visits from archbishops, bishops 
and representatives of the Protestant 
church, whose aims differ from that 
of the aspostle Paul. These events are 
clearly foretold in the Bible and the 
Spirit of prophecy. 
The "Vita Nouva", a Catholic 
paper, writes as follows: "The rep-
resentative of the Scottish Church 
has been received by the Holy 
Father. This event is very important, 
inasmuch as the Scottish Church has, 
by tradition, been the strong enemy 
of Catholicism for many years. The 
representative of the Scottish Church 
mentioned, moreover, that as this 
was his first visit to Rome, he had 
tried to see some of the Christian 
holy places, such as the catacombs 
and the tomb of St. Peter. He added 
at the end that he hoped- this visit 
would be a good omen of the future. 
"These events took place soon 
after the announcement of the Vatican 
Council and the founding of the 
secretarial department for the union 
of all Christians. Until now three 
personalities from the Protestant 
Church have been received in the 
Vatican: On December z, 196o, 
Dr. Fischer, who was then the head 
of the Anglican Church; on Novem-
ber 15, 196r, Dr. Lichtemberger, 
president of the Episcopalian Church 
in the United States, and on Decem-
ber 4, 1961, Dr. Jackson, president 
of the Baptist Church in the United 
States" (Vita Nouva). 
"Protestants have tampered with 
and patronized popery; they have 
made compromises and concessions 
which papists themselves are sur-
prised to see, and fail to understand. 
Men are closing their eyes to the real 
4 
Interior of the church in Bad 
character of Romanism, and the 
dangers to be apprehended from her 
supremacy. The people need to be 
aroused to resist the advances of this 
most dangerous foe to civil and 
religious liberty" (Great Controversy, 
p. 566). 
While these courtesy visits have 
been taking place, our people have 
been preaching the message to pre-
pare a people to receive the Lord 
when He comes again. In our churches 
the message of a soon coming Sav-
iour is preached every week, but 
even though we enjoy some liberty 
in our country, we experience, here 
and there, the old spirit of medieval 
Catholicism. 
Hear what Brother V. Stragapede 
has to say about his evangelistic 
efforts, held in two different places 
in eastern Sicily: 
"In Lentini the hall was quite full 
the first evening, and the audience 
remained at about eighty the whole 
time. In Carlentini the influx of 
listeners was also very encouraging, 
and the hall was well filled with 
interested members and visitors. 
We were, however, not long left in 
peace, and this is what happened: 
From the Catholic main church a 
procession came, carrying the statue 
of the madonna and stopping in 
front of our meeting hall in Via 
Duilio. Here the priest excommuni-
cated the house in which we lodged 
as well as the owner of the building. 
This was not enough. A small dele-
gation of nuns came several times to 
see the owner of the house, telling 
her to throw us out. The priest went 
to the police, who asked us questions 
about the number of our members 
and other things, in order to pacify 
the priest. The owner of the house 
assured us that the priest would not 
gain., the victory, and that nobody 
was thinking of taking the hall 
from us. This time he did not win, 
but maybe he has in mind to try 
something else. The main thing is, 
however, that we are becoming 
well-known, and that the Word of 
God is being preached." 
"The Roman Church now presents 
a fair front to the world, covering 
with apologies her record of horrible 
cruelties. She has clothed herself 
in Christlike garments; but she is 
unchanged. ... The papacy is just 
what prophecy declared that she 
would be, the apostasy of the latter 
times. It is part of her policy to 
assume the character which will best 
accomplish her purpose" 
(Great 
Conterversy, p. 571). 
1961 has been eventful to us, be-
cause during this year the banner 
of truth was raised in a town, which 
was long the aim of many book 
evangelists and lay preachers. Calta-
girone (Catania) is a town with about 
6o,000 inhabitants. It is situated on 
a high hill, from which it governs 
the plain, not only because of its 
situation, but especially beacause 
of its cultural tradition, its ceramic 
schools, its churches and schools 
for priests. It has a bishop's see, 
and is famous because of the religious 
and political leaders it has produced. 
For many years this little town was 
the long desired goal of our brethren 
working near it. Our book envan-
gelists have sold thousands of books 
and tracts here, and our lay preachers 
have tried to get an interest started 
by missionary campaigns and distri-
bution of enrollment blanks for our 
Bible correspondence course, but 
without any remarkable results. On 
the contrary, two young people work-
ing in the evangelistic campaign here 
were denounced by the priests and 
taken to the police station. Here they 
were submitted, to legal proceedings, 
which, fortunately, came out all right. 
Caltagirone seemed to be an uncon-
querable fortress, as the priests 
obstinately worked against the spread-
ing of the gospel here. 
However, the perseverance of our 
workers have been rewarded, and 
the promise in Revelation 3:7, 8 has 
been fulfilled: "And to the angel of 
the church in Philadelphia write; 
These things saith he that is holy, 
he that is true, he that hath the key 
of David, he that openeth, and no 
man shutteth; and shutteth, and no 
man openeth; I know thy works: 
behold, I have set before thee an 
open door, and no man can shut it: 
for thou hast a little strenght, and 
hast kept my word, and hast not 
denied my name." 
During the year a sincere person 
accepted the gospel. She got other 
people interested in the truth, and 
5 
in the end eight souls were baptized, 
a Sabbath school was organized, and 
a small hall was opened in which 
twenty persons assemble every week. 
While I have been writing this 
article, I received a message from 
Brother P. Tramuto, the district 
evangelist, in which he tells me that 
six more persons were baptized on 
April z8. 
We see how the glorious vision 
of lay preaching has been proved 
in this part of our field: "Servants 
of God, with their faces lighted up 
and shining with holy consecration, 
will hasten from place to place to 
proclaim the message from heaven. 
By thousands of voices, all over the 
earth, the warning will be given. 
... The message will be carried 
not so much by argument as by the 
deep conviction of the Spirit of God. 
The arguments have been presented. 
The seed has been sown, and now it 
will spring up and bear fruit. . . . Not-
withstanding the agencies combined 
against the truth, a large number take 
their stand upon the Lord's side" 
(Great Controversy, p. 612). 
Several other events made the year 
1961 a happy one. Three beautiful 
halls were acquired and consecrated, 
and three others were rented. On 
the same day the members of Apulien 
could rejoice over the consecration 
of two meeting places, one in Bari 
and the other in Gravina. Brother 
W. A. Wild from the Division was 
present at the inauguration. The 
members in Bari who for forty 
years have only had a rented hall, 
and the old historical church in 
Gravina, from which place several 
pioneers and young workers have 
come, have now their own chapels, 
to which each week dozens of inter-
ested people come to study the truth. 
We are very grateful to the Lord 
for this, and also to the Division 
and our members for their help and 
faithful cooperation. 
The year 5962 had a good beginning. 
Baptisms were conducted every-
where, and in these days when the 
greatest part of humanity is looking 
toward Rome, six young people were 
baptized in this city. Six young 
people — the symbol of the Advent 
and Christian youth — have joined 
us in order to help bring the pure 
gospel to the people in Rome and 
Italy. 
"What is long in coming is always 
good", says the proverb. These 
words fit the new church in Inns-
bruck, Austria, which was two years 
in building, but could then be dedi-
cated free of debt in the month of 
September. The members in Inns-
bruck are very thankful that they have 
at last a church building of their own, 
after having spent about fifty years 
wandering around through seventeen 
different rented halls. The building 
is beautifully situated a little above 
the city, and commands a marvelous 
view of the Tyrolean Alps. 
Walking up the broad steps one 
enters the main auditorium through 
a bright hall. This beautiful room 
slopes a little towards the front, 
and seats 165. The platform is slightly 
rounded and the wall behind, which 
can be used for the projection of 
slides, is covered by a light-green 
curtain. The pulpit is movable, and 
is decorated in front with a maple 
cross. At the side of the hall is the 
room for mothers with small children, 
and they are able to follow the pro-
ceedings in the main hall through a 
large window. 
In the basement is a smaller hall 
seating eighty, and besides smaller 
rooms for baptismal candidates, there 
are two committee rooms and a two-
room apartment. The church building 
is surrounded by a well-kept garden. 
Because of the General Conference 
session the inauguration of the chapel 
was postponed until September 22, 
even thought the members had been 
meeting here since May. On the big 
day visitors came from nearby towns 
in Austria and Germany, and from 
Salzburg came thirty singers and 
musicians. 
The guest speakers were M. Frid-
lin, president of the Division, 
M. Schwab and H. Schnoetzinger 
from the Austrian Union, F. Pfingstl 
from the Alpine Conference, as well 
as several missionaries home on 
furlough. On the Friday evening a 
baptism was conducted, a good omen 
of the future of the church life here. 
The Sabbath services started with a 
beautiful rendering of Mozart's "Ave 
verum" by the Salzburg choir, 
accompanied by the orchestra. The 
text for the inauguration sermon was 
chosen from Psa. 26: 8: "Lord, I 
have loved the habitation of thy 
house, and the place where thine 
honour dwelleth." 
In the afternoon the official dedi-
cation started with the reading of 
Psa. 96 by J. Lackner, secretary-
treasurer of the Austrian Union. The 
Salzburg choir sang Mozart's "Lau-
date", and H. Schnoetzinger wel-
comed all visitors. The mayor of the 
town expressed his joy that the 
Seventh-day Adventists of Innsbruck 
had been able to build such a beauti-
ful church. 
M. Fridlin, president of the Divi-
sion, told how the workers in the 
mission fields have to start their 
efforts in simple huts, and only when 
the church has been strenghtened and 
has grown within, are they able to 
erect proper buildings. The church 
in Innsbruck has now passed the 
provisional stage, and thus a beauti-
ful church building has been erected. 
Brother Fridlin expressed the wish 
that soon another church might be 
Dedication of new Church in 
Innsbruck, Austria 
By Karl Fischbacher 
6 
The new church in Innsbruck, Austria 
built to the honor of the Lord here 
in Innsbruck. 
M. Schwab, president of the Aus-
trian Union, mentioned the example 
of Hezekiah, who opened the doors 
of the temple; and added that he 
wished we as Adventists would open 
the doors wide and let others in, 
in order that God's house might be 
called "an house of prayer for all 
people" (Isa. 56:7). After another 
muscial item, this time by the string 
quartette, the conference president 
of the Alpine Conference, F. Pfingstl, 
formally handed over the church to 
the members in Innsbruck for them to 
use, and M. Fridlin closed with the 
dedication prayer. 
Time was now allowed for the 
members to express their memories 
of the last fifty years, and with grate-
fulness they could sing: "Great 
God, we praise Thee," followed by 
another item by the choir from 
Tyrol. 
Brother Karl Fischbacher began 
his talk by saying: "We have expe-
rienced it." So often it had been 
necessary for the church members 
to give up the hope of acquiring 
their own place of worship, and 
time and again they had been forced 
to change from one rented place to 
another; but today they experienced 
the great joy of being in their own 
house of prayer. 
Many people had sent flowers and 
telegrams to join in the happiness 
of the members, and make the occa-
sion as festive as possible. 
After the rendering of different 
hymns and poems, one of the mem-
bers read the story of the Innsbruck 
church, which was founded in 1911. 
During the first world war the mem-
bers had to split up in groups, but 
afterwards they could again assemble 
as one body in a rented hall, and 
today the membership stands at one 
hundred and twenty. These few 
people have shown great generosity 
and willingness to give, and this is 
the reason that the beautiful church 
building is here today. 
The evening of the big day was 
given over to the showing of color 
slides from Cameroun by Brother 
E. Ludescher, a missionary from 
this interesting part of our division. 
Sunday was spent in different 
activities. The work of the book 
evangelists in Austria was described, 
as they have assisted much in bringing 
new members to the church by the 
distribution of Bible correspondence 
lessons; and the great work done for 
the youth in our Bogenhofen Semi-
nary was also mentioned. M. Fridlin 
and M. Schwab enriched the knowl-
edge of the members by their 
inspiring Bible studies, and the choir 
gladdened the congregation by sing-
ing many of the hymns we love so 
much. 
In the evening a farewell meeting 
was held. Until now it had been the 
church members who had expressed 
their great thankfulness for the new 
church, but now the leaders of the 
conference thanked the members for 
the sacrifices they had made in order 
that the plans might materialize. 
After a short testimony meeting, 
in which both the leading brethren 
and the members expressed their 
gratitude for these blessed days, the 
meetings were closed by the singing 
of the hymn "God be with you till 
we meet again." 
This week-end had been a high 
light in the experience of the mem-
bers of the Innsbruck church, and 
they are looking with confidence to 
the future, knowing that the Lord 
will lead them onward, as He has 
done hitherto. 
7 
Church in Victoria 
Get Aquainted with Your Division 
News From Seychelles 
By H. Evard 
The Seychelles islands rise like 
big blocks of granite out of the blue 
waves of the Indian Ocean. Here 
under a tropical sun, where the coco-
nut palm is king, lives a cosmopolitan 
population. Most of them are poor 
because they are isolated from other 
parts of the world, and have only 
few material resources, such as vanilla, 
cinnamon and copra. Communications 
with the rest of the world are limited 
to a service between Mombasa and 
Bombay. Now and again a boat en 
route to Mauritius may stop at 
Seychelles, but in this day and age 
of the plane, there is not yet a regular, 
direct service to these islands. To 
get there from Mauritius the easiest 
is to take the plane to Nairobi, from 
there to Mombasa, and after two days 
and three nights one arrives at 
Seychelles. 
It is about thirty years ago since 
our message was first brought to 
these islands, and we have now 
a church with about fifty members. 
Several European missionaries have 
worked here, and during the last 
years the Mauritius Mission has sent 
over several evangelists. Right now 
Brother Marc Supramayen is in 
charge of the work here. 
The capital, Victoria, is situated 
on the island of Mahe, and here we 
have a beautiful church building, 
where services are held regularly on 
the Sabbath in the French language, 
because even though the islands are 
under the jurisdiction of Britain, 
French is spoken. Whereas most of 
our members live in Victoria, we 
also have some who live in the 
countryside of this island, and on 
the islands of Cerf and Praslin, the 
latter being about thirty kilometers 
from Mahe. 
Recently Brother Supramayen and 
I tried to visit all the members, and 
everywhere we were received with 
joy and kindness. We clearly proved 
that Christian fellowship is not an 
empty word. At the time of this 
itinerary we had a baptism, when two 
young girls joined the church. Then 
8 
we spent several evenings conducting 
public meetings, every time before 
very attentive audiences. A simple, 
but beautiful wedding was also 
celebrated while we were there. 
We have a primary school on a 
hill, where Mrs. H. Calais is in charge, 
assisted by two other teachers. About 
thirty pupils attend the school regu-
larly, but life is not so easy for some 
of these students, who often have to 
walk long distances, and do not have 
the most favorable circumstances 
under which to study. 
A visit to a leper colony for healed 
lepers impressed me very much, be-
cause these people, who have suf-
fered from this terrible disease, gave 
us a very friendly reception. Some 
have been there over twenty years, 
and although their bodies show signs 
of their sufferings, their souls were 
very much alive and receptive to the 
Word of God. 
We also made a visit to the island 
of Praslin, situated about three 
hours' journey by boat from Mahe, 
as we have here a few members and 
some interested persons. Two eve-
nings we conducted meetings under 
the starlit canopy of heaven before 
an audience of about fifty attentive 
listeners. Here on this island there 
are not many distractions, and the 
visitors are well received, but on 
others there is often more resistance 
because of religious prejudice. 
The blessed days were soon over, 
and the time came for us to leave by 
boat for Mombasa. Friends came to 
say goodbye at the pier, while Pastor 
and Mrs. Supramayen and the treas-
urer, Brother J. Stravens, accompanied 
me on board for a last handshake. 
Goodbye dear friends on the Sey-
chelles, when shall we meet again ? 
SOUTHERN EUROPEAN 
QUARTERLY REVIEW 
Organ of the. Southern European Divi- 
sion of Seventh-day Adventists published 
every quarter 
Address of Editor (to whom all manu- 
scripts should be sent): HOheweg 17, 
Berne, Switzerland. 
W. A. Wild �
Editor 
Mrs. B. J. Kohler Editorial Secretary