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Evangelist Franklin Graham has urged believers to pray for incoming Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is set to take office soon.
But why Meloni, and why Italy? Because, Graham said in a Facebook post, that Meloni is all about freedom, and it’s something any leader in this world should embrace to battle the evils of socialism and communism.
“She has some important things to say (in this video) about the attack on our identity, which really boils down to our freedom,” Graham says. “Communist thinking has cleverly invaded our culture—and we need to be on guard.”
Meloni claimed victory in Italy’s election in September, and she will become the first female prime minister in the country’s history. But what is most intriguing about is that she espouses to be a devoted Christian—a Catholic—and the 45-year-old neo-conservative mother of one ran her campaign on a platform of “God, homeland, family.”
In the video, she said: “And so they attack national identity, they attack religious identity, they attack gender identity, they attack family identity. I can’t define myself as Italian, Christian, woman, mother. No. I must be Citizen X, Gender X, Parent 1, Parent 2. I must be a number.
“Because when I am only a number, when I no longer have an identity or roots, then I will be the perfect slave at the mercy of financial speculators. The perfect consumer.”
Graham says while he agrees with what Meloni said, there are deeper roots than simply monetary gain.
“I believe it is a spiritual attack, it is rebellion in the heart of man against God’s created order,” Graham said.”
“In 2019, Meloni said in a speech to cheering supporters, “I am Giorgia, I am a woman, I am a mother, I am Italian, I am a Christian and you can’t take that away from me.”
Meloni is being attacked in the media since for her faith since her election, raising the suspicion from journalists like the UK’s “Christianity” magazine columnist Christopher Lamb, who said recently that he believes Meloni is “one of a growing number of populist politicians using the language of faith to further their political aims.”
“Don’t be fooled by her talk of God,” Lamb wrote.
Lamb also accused former US President Donald Trump of the same rhetoric.
Lamb says, “Meloni has presented herself as a defender of traditional values by taking a strong stance against LGBT rights. She has already sought out those cardinals who oppose the direction of the (Pope) Francis pontificate, and recently held a meeting with Cardinals Robert Rarah, the Holy See’s former liturgy prefect, who claims it is a ‘false exegesis’ to use the scriptures to promote migration.”
In a YouTube video from 2021 just before Easter, in Italian, Meloni said that “Christians are being persecuted for the simple fact of their faith (in places like Syria and Iraq). Defending Christians, wherever they may be, also means defending our identity. It means reaffirming our connection to the sanctity of life, equality between men and women, the defense of the natural family on marriage.”
All kingdom qualities, for sure.
Graham urged believers to pray and carefully consider Meloni’s agenda as a politician. {eoa}
Shawn A. Akers is the online editor for Charisma Media.
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