FIRST ADVENTIST IN ITALY WAS CATHERINE REVEL
Women’s History Month #2 2023
The information in this article is based on the book LIBERE DONNE IN
LIBERA CHIESA 150 anni di presenza femminile avventista in Italia
Catherine Revel, born Gaydou on November 23, 1830, in the Waldensian
Valleys of Piedmont, had deep Waldensian roots that could be traced back to the
17th century. Catherine married Barthélemy Revel and they had
two children, Barthélemy (1852-1931) and Méry (1859-1946).
Educated according to Christian principles, until the age of thirty-five
Catherine was a fervent Waldensian. In 1864 she became an Adventist, the first
known convert in Europe.
In the summer of 1864, a Polish Adventist missionary, a former Franciscan
friar, arrived in Torre Pellice, where he found lodging. He had converted to
Protestantism in Geneva and accepted the Adventist message in the United
States. Shortly thereafter he had expressed to the leaders of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church a request to return to Europe to begin the proclamation of the
Adventist message, which until then had been geographically limited to North
America. The leaders at the time, however, did not feel they were yet
sufficiently prepared for a mission effort outside the United States. He then
turned to another Adventist group, the Advent Christian Church (whose members
observed Sunday as a day of rest), and succeeded in obtaining the long-awaited
funding to return to Europe along with his family and a secretary belonging to
this religious group. This missionary was Michael Belina Czechowski
(1818-1876).
Arriving at his destination, Czechowski began his preaching feeling free of
any ties to those who had helped him arrive in Italy. Sent by an ecclesiastical
organization, he accepted its financial aid but rejected, though not totally,
its theological content. He preached with particular care the observance of the
Sabbath as a day of rest.
In Torre Pellice, Czechowski had rented a room to begin his evangelistic
work, but he soon had to change it, and so he held his lectures-conversations
in the town of Luserna San Giovanni. Catherine Revel, who lived higher up at
about 700 meters above sea level, assiduously attended the meetings and soon
understood the need to observe the Sabbath instead of Sunday, according to the
fourth commandment of the Decalogue. Before she finally made up her mind,
however, she wanted to hear the opinion of an elder in her home community who
told her, "Sticking to the letter of the Scriptures, it is surely the
Sabbath that should be celebrated, but our fathers, who suffered so much for
their faith, did not believe that they should make such a change. And God
accepted their obedience. So, there is no need to change our customs on this
point."[i] Not satisfied with the answer, Catherine
Revel began to observe the seventh day as a day of rest and worship. Like her,
others made the same choice.
Barthélemy Revel, Catherine's husband, had at first joined the group of
Sabbath observers; however, due to the contradictions in Czechowski's teachings
he forbade Czechowski to enter his house; because of this, his wife could not
receive baptism from the former Franciscan friar, and was later baptized by a
Baptist pastor, while remaining faithful to the Sabbath and the accepted
doctrine.
About twenty years later, the Adventist community of Torre Pellice was
formed, following the testimony of missionary Daniel T. Bordeau (1835-1905),
and Catherine Revel represented its ardent soul for many, many years. From this
church radiated, and continues to radiate to this day, the powerful light of
the Gospel.
Catherine Revel dominated the beginning of Adventist work in Italy with her
faith, although for many years she remained the only believer.[ii] Contacts with pioneers of Adventist work in neighboring Switzerland
were frequent, and from time to time, Catherine was visited by foreign brethren
from faraway America. Among them, we can mention John Nevins Andrews, N. Stefen
Haskell, and Buel Landon Witney. Ellen G. White visited northern Italy on three
different occasions: from November 26 to December 18, 1885, from April 16 to
29, 1886, and from November 3 to 19, 1886.[iii] During these sojourns devoted to
preaching, she got to know both Catherine Revel and her daughter Méry
(1859-1946).
Catherine’s grandson, Alfred Felix Vaucher, became a longstanding professor
of dogmatic theology at the Adventist Seminary of Theology in
Collonges-sous-Salève, France, and influenced three generations of pastors and
missionaries
Catherine Revel remained faithful throughout her long life to the
principles of the Adventist Church, living in the blessed hope of the glorious
return of her and our Savior Jesus Christ. In breaking the news of her passing
on January 6, 1930, Il Messaggero Avventista published an
obituary, calling her a bulwark of Adventism in Europe.[iv]
Condensed from the chapter: CATHERINE
REVEL "Bulwark of AdventIsm In Europe" by Giovanni De Meo,
pp14-18 in the book LIBERE DONNE IN LIBERA CHIESA 150 anni di
presenza femminile avventista in Italia edited by Dora Bognandi, Lina
Ferrara, Franca Zucca
[i] A. F. Vaucher, Mon Expérience, cartella n. 1. Si tratta di un
documento di sei cartelle dattiloscritte, dense di nomi, date, avvenimenti e
personaggi.
[ii] Giuseppe De Meo, Granel di sale, Claudiana, Torino, 1980, p. 73.
[iii] Robert W. Olson – Giuseppe De Meo, Ellen White in Europa, Edizioni
ADV, Falciani – Impruneta (FI), 1987
[iv] Chiesa di Torre Pellice, Necrologia, in Il Messaggero Avventista,
Anno V, n. 2, Marzo – Aprile 1930, p. 15.
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