Pope Leo XIV
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Pope Leo XIV spoke in France and pushed Europe to direct/push/lead the world order:
Pope Leo urges Europe to defend multilateralism as global order crumbles
28 September 2026
In a speech from Metz, Pope Leo XIV invoked Europe’s Christian roots and urged leaders to defend the international rules-based order. …
The pontiff lamented a world marked by conflict, from war and hunger to deteriorating personal relations, describing an “increasingly uncivilised” climate. He also criticised the “lies and deception” he said were fuelling growing distrust between citizens and governments.
Speaking in Schuman’s hometown, a city closely associated with European reconciliation, Leo said Europe could break this vicious cycle by reaffirming its commitment to the rule of law and dialogue.
“Europe can break this cycle by upholding the principle of respect for others, which it has successfully cultivated and maintained, having demonstrably shown over the past eighty years that it is possible to express divergent opinions, demands, and interests through dialogue rather than confrontation,” he said. …
Leo XIV also urged Europeans to remember the continent’s Christian roots, describing Europe as more than a geographical entity and instead a “cultural and historical reality”.
“We cannot speak of Europe, then, without mentioning Christianity,” he said, arguing that its traditions could coexist with efforts to shape the continent’s future.
Europe, he added, “has flourished and progressed when it was able to draw on the best aspects of its past and reinvent them in new and creative ways through encounter with others.” …
The gathering also brought together representatives of different faiths, including France’s chief rabbi, Haïm Korsia, and Chems-Eddine Hafiz, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris. https://www.euronews.com/2026/09/28/pope-leo-urges-europe-to-defend-multilateralism-as-global-order-crumbles
Back in June, the pontiff told a massive crowd that Europe must look to its “Christian roots”:
Pope Leo urges Europe to acknowledge its Christian roots
June 8, 2026
Pope Leo XIV called on Europe to recognize Christianity’s role in the continent’s identity as he presided over a mass attended by 1.2 million people in Madrid on Sunday, the Catholic feast of Corpus Domini, pressing the case for faith’s continued place in public life.
Addressing the enormous crowd gathered at the city’s Plaza de Cibeles and the surrounding streets, Leo cited Christianity’s contributions to European art, culture and civic life, pointing to the schools, hospitals and other institutions that Christians, “motivated by their faith,” had built over centuries …
Europe’s Judeo-Christian inheritance, he argued, is a “recognition of fact,” evidenced by the continent’s cathedrals, art, music, scientific advances and universities, which he called an “intrinsic link between Christianity and European history” that should be “cherished and celebrated.” https://www.christianpost.com/news/pope-leo-urges-europe-to-acknowledge-its-christian-roots.html
In his remarks, Leo challenged Europe to consider what the continent’s identity would be without the influence of Christianity. He cited its art, culture and the role played by Christians — “motivated by their faith” — to build its schools, hospitals and other institutions.
“Is it seriously possible to believe that Europe — which we deeply love — would be the same without the influence of faith?” Leo asked, in demanding that religious expression be allowed to keep its place in the public sphere. …
“Spain is Christian and not Muslim!” the crowd yelled. 06/07/26 https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/world/article/pope-s-mass-in-spain-features-iconic-procession-22294617.php
Like previous pontiffs, Leo XIV is interested in Europe having Vatican influence.
Regarding other churches, consider that in 2025 Pope Leo XIV pushed the idea that the Archcathedral of his church is “the Mother of All Churches” (see Pope Leo XIV asserts the Basilica of St. John Lateran is “in fact, the ‘Mother of all Churches’”).
The idea of the Church of Rome pushing for its agenda in Europe is not a new one. Notice that even when Europe was still recovering from being devastated in World War II, after attending a conference related to the start of the UN, in the December 1948 issue of The Plain Truth Herbert W. Armstrong predicted a coming “United States of Europe” when he wrote:
It was the SERMON that shot forth that spark, impregnating the minds of world leaders in attendance. This amazing sermon was delivered by a foremost radio speaker of the Catholic Church, Bishop Duane G. Hunt of Salt Lake City … Without the guidance, supervision, authority of the Catholic Church, he told these men, they were laboring in vain …
This was the Roman Catholic bid to resurrect the so-called “HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE” ! And PROPHECY says they will succeed! … At the psychological time, the pope will step in … Thru this political movement, he will UNIFY … nations in Europe. It will be a “The UNITED STATES OF EUROPE,” but that probably will never become its official name. (Armstrong HW. Now It Can Be Told…The Plain Truth, December 1948, pp. 2,5).
In the past few years, Europe took significant steps to do what the Church of God warned about decades ago. Notice a later COG warning/report:
Prophecy warns that the satanically inspired “Mark of the Beast” is soon to be enforced once again by a REVIVAL of a church-dominated “Holy Roman Empire.”
Only this time the modern “Holy Roman Empire” will masquerade as a “peace-loving” power. … It is to be some form of a “United States of Europe” which will be dominated by a revived, rearmed, fascist-minded Germany in conjunction with a great CHURCH! …
The Church’s basic policy is to establish her order — her rule — over the world. Her goal is to become the “universal” church — the one and ONLY church — to rule the whole world politically!
Just as the Church once imposed her order upon nations and peoples, she is again seeking to establish a “Christian order which [she says] alone is able to guarantee peace. To this goal the resources of the church are now directed!” So said the late Pope Pius XII in his Christmas broadcast on December 24, 1951. …
In Europe, almost everybody takes it for granted that the Common Market is merely the economic start that will develop into a united government of European nations. (Lesson 32 – “Mark of the Beast” To Be Enforced Again! 58 Lesson: Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course, 1967 https://www.hwalibrary.com/cgi-bin/get/hwa.cgi?action=getbstudy&InfoID=1496580609&InfoType=Study58&SearchWhat=KeyWord&SearchFor=Sermon%20on%20mount%205&NoShow=&page=99&return=search)
Yes, Europe has been uniting and the Church of Rome wants to have its influence over Europe.
Back in 1983, the old WCG published the following about the then Pope pushing for Poland and the Eastern block to have its “proper place” in Europe. Gene Hogberg wrote:
Few comprehend the long-term objectives of Pope John Paul II with regard to Poland and all of Eastern-and Western-Europe.
THERE IS no doubt about it now. As a result of his dramatic trip to his Polish homeland last June, Pope John Paul II is firmly established as the most charismatic leader in the Western world. …
On day two of his visit, the Pontiff told Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski in Warsaw that Poland had a right to “her proper place among the nations of Europe, between the East and the West.” He reminded General Jaruzelski that Pope Paul VI had stated that “Poland has a right to sovereign existence.” …
“The pope,” wrote William Pfaff in the June 27 Los Angeles Times, “has undertaken the liberation of Eastern Europe. It is not too much to describe what he has begun with his second visit to Poland in those words. This audacious program involves serious risks, but also displays an intelligence, an understanding of history and a powerful will that are all but invisible among Western statesmen.”
John Paul II believes that the unity and fervor of Poland’s Catholics can provide, according to journalist Pfaff, “a first step in the moral reanimation of the other churches of the East, and then of the West.”
The Pope has been consistent in this theme. Only last year in Spain, he proclaimed the following, in what he called a “Declaration to Europe”:
“I, John Paul, son of the Polish nation which has always considered itself European by its origins, traditions, culture and vital relationships, Slavic among the Latins and Latin among the Slavs;… I, Bishop of Rome and Shepherd of the Universal Church, from Santiago, utter to you, Europe of the ages, a cry full of love: Find yourself again. Be yourself. Discover your origins, revive your roots.”
Poland, unlike other countries of Europe, has not lost its roots. It has been fervently Roman Catholic for more than 1,000 years. (Hogberg G. Behind the Pope’s SPIRITUAL OFFENSIVE In Eastern Europe. Plain Truth, October 1983)
Both the old WCG and the Vatican were correct that Poland would end up uniting with Europe.
In Daniel 2:31-33, Daniel reports that a great image (which is another way to look at the Beast of Revelation) has two legs, which points to two halves or two main parts of the Beast:
31 This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. 32 This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. (Daniel 2:31-33)
Historically, the “Roman Empire” often had two parts: a Western (Rome) and Eastern (Constantinople) one, with the center of power switching sometimes throughout the ages.
The late Pope John-Paul II once publicly stated:
By rediscovering the great cultural treasures of the Christian East, in a new dialogue of communion, we will also allow Christian witness to breathe at this level, with two “lungs“, making our rightful contribution to humanity’s future (Pope John Paul II. CHRISTIANITY HAS DEEPLY MARKED CULTURE OF PEOPLES. Angelus, 1 September 1996. Taken from: L’Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English, 4 September 1996, “L’Osservatore Romano is the newspaper of the Holy See”. http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP960901.HTM viewed 11/16/07).
They apparently make up the two legs and somewhat the two feet (with ten toes, five on each foot) of the image of the Beast warned against in Daniel 2:33.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now the late Pope Benedict XVI, interestingly wrote of Europe (the Mediterranean continent) and its two “wings,” Greek and Latin:
In the process of replacing boundaries, the conceptual continuity with the preceding Mediterranean continent…was assured by a theological interpretation of history: in connection with the Book of Daniel, the Roman Empire—renewed and transformed by the Christian faith—was considered to be the final and permanent kingdom in the history of the world in general, and therefore the association of peoples and states that was taking shape was defined as the permanent Sacrum Imperium Romanum [Holy Roman Empire]. (Raztinger J. Europe today and tomorrow: addressing the fundamental issues. Translated by Michael Miller. Ignatius Press, 2007, p. 13)
We can consider the rise of the Carolingian Empire, on the one hand, and the continuation of the Roman empire in Byzantium and its mission to the Slavic people, on the other, as the true and proper birth of the continent of Europe…(ibid, p. 17)
Greco-Christian, European culture of Byzantium…one of the two wings of Europe (ibid, p. 18).
Latin [that is, Western] Europe…(ibid, p. 19)
…the Christian idea of empire…the sacred foundation for history…(ibid, p. 20)
The two halves of the old Europe, before the modern era, had known essentially only one opponent that it had to confront in a life-or-death battle, namely, the Islamic world. (ibid, p. 22)
Believing Christians should…contribute to Europe’s recovery of the best of its heritiage and thus to the service of all mankind. (ibid, p. 34)
The successor to the Roman empire was the so-called “Holy Roman Empire.” Thus, even the late Pope Benedict XVI realized that the “Holy Roman Empire” is part of the image in Daniel 2 and that one leg/wing represents the Roman/Latin Catholic west with the other the Eastern/Greco/Byzantine east. Cardinal Ratzinger also seems to be teaching that the “Holy Roman Empire” is the last part of the image of Daniel 2 and he is suggesting that it is a good thing.
Yet, he seemed not to realize that in the end, God intentionally destroys the image, by attacking the last part (striking the feet it stands upon in Daniel 2:34,44) which demonstrates that God was not pleased with this image or its supposedly “sacred foundation.”
It should also be noted that the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew (whose “official title” is His All Holiness, Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch) wrote:
Today, then, it is our obligation more than ever to reclaim the Christian roots of Europe and the spiritual, sacramental and doctrinal unity that it enjoyed prior to the schism of our two Churches. The re-evangelization of our peoples is “today, more so than ever before, timely and necessary, even within traditional Christian lands,” as we admitted and confessed in common here exactly one year ago.
Thus, we believe that Western and Eastern Europe must cease regarding themselves as foreign to one another…
Elder Rome has the foremost St. Peter as its apostle and patron. New Rome, Constantinople, has the brother of St. Peter, the first-called of the apostles, Andrew. Both invite us to the fraternal unity that they shared with each other and that can only be acquired when the cross becomes our point of reference and experience of approach.
Let us, therefore, beseech these two brothers and greatest of apostles that they may grant peace to the world and lead everyone to unity. (Bartholomew I’s Letter to Vatican Delegation. Zenit. December 5, 2007 http://www.zenit.org/article-21198?l=english).
The Patriarch of Constantinople is generally considered the first among equals within the Eastern Orthodox “sees.” Even if this unity with the Romans occurs (which it basically will), individually the Orthodox Must Reject Unity with the Roman Catholics as unifying will make them part of Babylon (according to both biblical and Roman Catholic prophecy) and turn to the “faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
As far as the feet of clay go that Daniel referred to, notice something from the EU Observer:
20 January 2022
Power in Europe is becoming more intergovernmental and less democratic. …
The world today is a very inhospitable place for the giant on clay feet that the EU has grown into. (Sophie in ‘t Veld. Macron’s vision will hit EU Council veto buffers. https://euobserver.com/opinion/154133)
The prophecy in Daniel 2 is coming to pass.
Consider also that Pope Francis also called on his followers to reclaim the ‘Christian roots’ of Europe:
For his mission intention, the Holy Father prays “that Europe may rediscover its Christian roots through the witness of believers.” (Unemployed Remembered in Pope’s June Prayer Intentions, Also Prays Europe Can Rediscover Its Christian Roots. Vatican City, May 30, 2014. http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/unemployed-remembered-in-pope-s-june-prayer-intentionsviewed 05/30/14)
Many popes have been pushing an agenda that will not be good.
Since the Bible is clear that God will destroy the final formation of that empire (Daniel 2:34,40-44), the development of a unified Europe to fulfill this is not something that should be encouraged. (It is also of interest that Cardinal Ratzinger pointed out Europe’s historic opponent Islam, as both biblical prophecy–like Daniel 11:40-43–and Roman Catholic private prophecy seem to tell of a time that the Europeans will defeat the forces of Islam once again.)
Notice some other statements in my free eBook book The Last Pope of the Malachy Prophecies: Do Biblical and Greco-Roman Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Leo XIV?:
Abbott Joachim (died 1202): A remarkable Pope will be seated on the pontifical throne, under special protection of the angels … he shall recover the states of the Church, and reunite the exiled temporal powers. As the only Pastor, he shall reunite the Eastern to the Western Church … Through him the East and West shall be in ever lasting concord. The city of Babylon shall then be the head and guide of the world …
Even though the Bible warns against end time Babylon (cf. Revelation 18:4; Jeremiah 50,51), Abbot Joachim is trying to teach that it is good. …
Here are some Roman Catholic warnings about the type of unification that some look forward to:
Michal Semin: Our Lady spoke of the annihilation of nations…The European Union is intent on destroying nation states, suppressing national identities and borders, so that we can happily live in an always progressing supra-national community of EU faithful.
Priest O’Connor (20th century?): This final false prophet will be a bishop of the church and will lead all religions into becoming one.
Priest H. Kramer (20th century): In the vision of the Seer now appears a second beast rising out of the earth, having two horns like a lamb but speaking like a dragon…In other places he is called the false prophet … This prophet may re-establish the pagan Roman Empire and build the “Great Harlot”, Babylon … The False Prophet … will persuade all infidels, apostates and apostate nations to worship and adore him … Antichrist “sitteth in the temple of God” (2 Thes. II. 4). This is not the ancient Temple in Jerusalem … this temple is shown to be a Catholic Church … The False Prophet will proclaim the resurrection of the Roman Empire.
Thus, while some Roman Catholic prophecies praise a new religious order, many others indicate that a new type of ‘Catholicism’ will be false to that religion and not be good for Europe. This also seems to be consistent with an Eastern Orthodox understanding of the last false religious power coming from Rome:
Bishop Gerasimos of Abydos (20th century): The army of Antichrist is made up of the worldly powers, mainly the Roman Empire, symbolized by the two beasts and the harlot woman (Rev. 11:7; 13:1-17; cf. Dan. 7:11-12) … The final confrontation with evil is presented in chapters 19 and 20…The war is waged by the beast and the false prophet. Both of these are organs of Satan, representing the political and religious authority of Rome (Rev. 13:1-18).
Whatever new order that the Great Monarch (who is to be crowned the leader of the Roman Empire according to other writings) implements with Rome will not be faithful to the teachings of Christ or His original faithful followers.
Therefore a “false pope” is expected, and a great loss of Catholic members to his religion is prophesied. Might this be in the works now? Could Pope Leo XIV work for this?
While Pope Francis took ecumenical steps, could Pope Leo XIV be the one that will seal unity with the Eastern Orthodox Catholics and the Protestants of Europe?
He may well be.
What I wish he would do, is to heed the following scripture–which is shown below from two Roman Catholic translations of the Bible:
3 Dearly beloved, taking all care to write unto you concerning your common salvation, I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. (Jude 3, DRB)
3 My dear friends, at a time when I was eagerly looking forward to writing to you about the salvation that we all share, I felt that I must write to you encouraging you to fight hard for the faith which has been once and for all entrusted to God’s holy people. (Jude 3, NJB)
If Pope Leo XIV would really do that, it would be an exciting and great course of action.
Last year, he hinted that the churches of the east, that are in communion with Rome, should do that–and they should.
But the Church of Rome, as well as all other churches, should do so as well.
Pope Leo’s call for Europe to look to its roots is consistent with statements of other pontiffs who want all Europe to unite and be under the influence of the Church of Rome.
For a time, that will happen–but that will not last per Revelation 17:15-18.
Some items of related interest may include:
Europa, the Beast, and the Book of Revelation discusses the largest church since the second/third century, which in a real sense is the eighth church mentioned in the Book of Revelation (it also endorses “eighth day” worship). What church would support the Beast? Here is a link to a video titled: Europe and the ‘Holy Roman Empire’.
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.
What is the Origin of the Cross as a Claimed ‘Christian’ Symbol? Was the cross used as a venerated symbol by the early Church? Three related YouTube videos would be Beware of the ‘Ecumenical Cross’, The Chrislam Cross and the Interfaith Movement, and Origin of the Cross.
Early Christianity in Edessa and the Church of the East Could there have been Christian leaders there? Might Judas of Jerusalem went there? Could Macarius have been a faithful Christian?Here is a link to a related sermon video: Original Church of the East.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.
The Last Pope of the Malachy Prophecies: Do Biblical and Greco-Roman Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Leo XIV? This 154 page book has biblical and Greco-Roman Catholic prophecies related to the last pope, an antipope who will be the final Antichrist.