Bondage to the RCC
One of the hardest things an Italian faces when he/she is being called by the Lord unto salvation (John 6:44) is to part from the Roman Catholic Church - RCC.
One way to begin to understand this struggle is to consider the relationship between a girl and guy when they are sexually active without being married and he is an abusive man. He treats her terribly and even cheats on her, but then he comes and talks tenderly to her and even weeps. She takes him back only to go through it all again, over and over again. She knows she is a bad guy and doesn't really love her. Her friends and family tell her the same. But she is always hopeful that it will somehow work out and so she never truly parts from the man. Her life is miserable. Her heart is continually broken. In a very real sense, she is bound to this man and deceiving herself. Only divine intervention can set her free.
The same is true with the Italian man/woman being called to salvation out of the RCC.
They know the RCC has lied to them and treated them poorly. They know there is no salvation there because the Gospel of grace is not preached. They know it is full of deception and heartache for them and their family. They hope somehow it will all work out and they won't have to separate from the RCC. Everyone else knows the right thing to do is to part from the RCC, but this person is bound, spiritually, and can only depart with divine intervention. The power and oppression of the RCC towers over them and controls them. Its end is destruction, but because of its numbers, money and power, in the eyes of the world it looks right.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
Proverbs 14:12
Another biblical example is that of God's people leaving Egypt. God offers them deliverance and the promised land. God has shown Himself faithful and powerful to act on their behalf, but due to their lack of faith they doubt God, fear their enemy and desire rather to go back to slavery. Tragedy. Bondage. Sin.
Sadly, missionaries in Italy deal with this on a regular basis and it is continually heart breaking. This bondage to the RCC is possibly the most powerful of Satan's vices in all the Earth.
Bonus Clip: A short video with Paul Washer talking on the RCC and coming out of it.
