Church of God News

As far as Pope Francis being a hero to the world’s downtrodden, I have concerns that he may actually someday make his actions support his rhetoric and actually use some of the Vatican’s vast wealth to give to the poor and/or help bailout nations in the Eurozone.

The Bible is clear that the merchants of the world will be made wealthy, for a time, by the end time Babylonian power based in a “great city”:

2…”Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! 3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” (Revelation 18:2-3)

17 For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’ (Revelation 18:17-18)

23 The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.  (Revelation 18:23)

So notice that because of a great city and Babylon the Great, many in the world became wealthy.  The Bible speaks more about this city as well as Babylon the Great:

4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.  5 And on her forehead a name was written:

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.

7 But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. (Revelation 17:4-7)

9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. (Revelation 17:9-10)

2 Babylon the great…7 In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ 8 Therefore her plagues will come in one day — death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. (Revelation 18:2,7-8)

1 “Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called Tender and delicate… 5 “Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; For you shall no longer be called The Lady of Kingdoms. 7 And you said, ‘I shall be a lady forever,’ So that you did not take these things to heart, Nor remember the latter end of them. 8 “Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, Who dwell securely, Who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, Nor shall I know the loss of children’; 9 But these two things shall come to you In a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness Because of the multitude of your sorceries, For the great abundance of your enchantments. (Isaiah 47:1,5,7-9)

15 This is the rejoicing city That dwelt securely, That said in her heart, “I am it, and there is none besides me.” How has she become a desolation, A place for beasts to lie down! Everyone who passes by her Shall hiss and shake his fist. (Zephaniah 2:15)

15 Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues…18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:15,18)

Is this great city Rome?

According to many Catholic scholars it is.  Notice the following:

Rome was the harlot city soaked in the blood of the saints, the centre from which spread out wave after wave of persecution. The Book of Revelations’ gloating vision of the coming ruin of Rome, ‘Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great’ (Revelations…), remained a persistent strand so long as the empire continued to persecute the church, and survived even into the Middle Ages (Duffy, Eamon. Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes. Yale University Press, New Haven (CT), 2002, pp.2,6).

9. The seven heads are the seven hills, on which the woman sits. That is, the city of Rome. (Victorinus. Commentary on the Apocalypse, from the seventh chapter. Translated by Robert Ernest Wallis. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 7. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0712.htm>)

“The Church that is in Babylon saluteth you, and so doth my son Mark” (1 Peter 5:13). That Babylon stands for Rome, as usual amongst pious Jews, and not for the real Babylon, then without Christians, is admitted by common consent (cf. F.J.A. Hort, “Judaistic Christianity”, London, 1895, 155) (Wilhelm J. Transcribed by Donald J. Boon. Apostolic Succession. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I. Copyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. Nihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).

The seven headed city is probably Rome (septicolis— seven hills) (Dupont Yves. Catholic Prophecy. TAN Books, 1973, p.24).

The woman sits on a scarlet beast, which is full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns (illustrating the close relationship between the historical city of Rome and the beast, the symbol of the Roman Empire, see Revelation 17:3). This woman (Rome) has been called Babylon the great and is drunk with the blood the saints and martyrs (see 17:5-6)…Another code for the symbols of the beast is announced in Revelation 17:9: “This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven mountains on which the woman is seated” (an obvious reference to the city of Rome built on seven hills).(Kurz, W. What Does the Bible Say About the End Times? A Catholic View. Servant Books, Cincinnati. Nihil Obstat: Kistner H., Schehr T.P. Imprimi Potest: Link F., Paul J.M. Imprimatur: Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxillary Bishop, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, July 19, 2004, pp. 165,166)

G. Rossi (1873): We must observe that St. Malachy does not mention the last Pope as a distinct person from the preceding one, whom he styles Glory of the Olive. He merely says, “During the last persecution of the Church, Peter II, a Roman, shall reign. He shall feed the flock in many tribulations, at the end of which the City of the Seven Hills (Rome) will be destroyed, and the awful Judge shall judge his people.” According to St. Malachy, then, only ten, or at most eleven, popes remain to be in future more or less legitimately elected. We say more or less legitimately elected, because out of those future popes it is to be feared that one or two will be unlawfully elected as anti-popes. (Rossi G. THE CHRISTIAN TRUMPET, OR, Previsions and Predictions about Impending General Calamities, The Universal Triumph of the Church, The Coming of Antichrist, The Last Judgment, and The End of the World. Compiled by PELLEGRINO [Gaudentius Rossi], A Missionary Priest with Superior’s permission. Boston, THOS. B. NOONAND & CO., 1873, p. 139)

…the Apocalypse was an inexhaustible quarry where to dig for invectives that they might hurl then against the Roman hierarchy. The seven hills of Rome, the scarlet robes of the cardinals, and the unfortunate abuses of the papal court made the application easy and tempting (Van den Biesen, Christian. “Apocalypse.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 5 Oct. 2008 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01594b.htm>).

Nor must we look for order in the Apocalypse; but we must follow the meaning of those things which are prophesied. Therefore in the trumpets and phials is signified either the desolation of the plagues that are sent upon the earth, or the madness of Antichrist himself, or the cutting off of the peoples, or the diversity of the plagues, or the hope in the kingdom of the saints, or the ruin of states, or the great overthrow of Babylon, that is, the Roman state (Victorinus. Commentary on the Apocalypse, Chapter 7, Verse 8. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1886. Online Edition Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight).

There was a strong anti-Roman tradition in the early Church. Rome was the harlot city soaked in the blood of the saints, the centre from which spread out wave after wave of persecution. The Book of Revelations’ gloating vision of the coming ruin of Rome, ‘Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great’ (Revelations 14:8), remained a persistent strand so long as the empire continued to persecute the church, and survived even into the Middle Ages (Duffy, Eamon. Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes. Yale University Press, New Haven (CT), 2002, pp. 16-17).

The author of the Commentaries upon the Apocalypse set forth in St. Ambrose name, writeth thus: This…sometime signifieth Rome, specially which at that time when the Apostle wrote this, did persecute the Church of God. But otherwise it signifieth the whole city of the Devil, that is, the universal corps of the reprobate. Tertullian also taketh it for Rome, thus, Babylon (saith he) in St. John is a figure of the city of Rome, being so great, so proud of the Empire, and the destroyer of the saints. Which is plainly spoken of that city, when it was heathen, the head of the terrene dominion of the world, the persecutor of the Apostles and their successors, the seat of Nero, Domitian, and the like, Christ’s special enemies, the sink of idolatry, and false worship of the Pagan gods (Annotations on Chapter 17 of the Apocalypse. The Original And True Rheims New Testament Of Anno Domini 1582. Prepared and Edited by Dr. William G. von Peters. Ph.D. 2004, copyright assigned to VSC Corp. Page 583).

Lest telling the truth here is perceived simply to be “Catholic bashing,” even Catholic private prophecy warns that the final Antichrist will use money as bait to gain followers.  Notice three Catholic writings/prophecies from Catholic saints about the final Antichrist:

Saint Mechtilda (died 1299): Antichrist will, through base and false strategem, and with presents of gold and gems, attain influence over the worldly princes. They will look up to him as their Lord and God (Culleton, The Reign of Antichrist, pp. 133-134).

Saint Ephrem (died 375): Antichrist will use worldly goods as bait. He will entice many Christians with money and goods to apostatize…The devil will help him find all the hidden treasures of the world, even those at the bottom of the ocean. With those treasures he will attain greater success for the reign of Satan than at any other time in past centuries (Connor, pp.73.74).

Saint Jerome (died 420): Antichrist…will gain support with many gifts and money. He will sell himself to the devil…(Connor E. Prophecy for Today. Imprimatur + A.J. Willinger, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno; Reprint: Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford (IL), 1984, p. 74).

The Bible, by the way, does mention that the King of the North will end up with a lot of gold, silver, and precious stones (Daniel 11:38,43) and that a seven-hilled/mountain-based power will have “gold and precious stones and pearls” (Revelation 17:4).  But is it possible that before the Beast rises up that the Antichrist will use material items for bait? The more Pope Francis proposes wealth distribution, the closer the time may come when the Vatican takes concrete action.  Remember, in addition to broad statements on wealth disparities, Pope Francis also stated he wanted his church poor and for the poor:

March 16, 2013

(Reuters) – Pope Francis, giving his clearest indication yet that he wants a more austere Catholic Church, said on Saturday that it should be poor and remember that its mission is to serve the poor.

Francis, speaking mostly off-the-cuff and smiling often, made his comments…“Oh, how I would like a poor Church, and for the poor.”  http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/16/us-pope-poor-idUSBRE92F05P20130316

Might the Antichrist use some of the wealth of the Vatican to support certain European nations/leaders? What if there is a financial crisis that truly threatens Europe?  Would not the Vatican perhaps be willing to extend its hand and increase its influence?  I expect this is likely, as it seems to be likely and consistent with the following scriptures:

1…”Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”…9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits…18:3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” (Revelation 17:1-2,9; 18:3)

Nor do I believe it will limit its support to Europe. The Church of Rome has a lot of worldly wealth–it is a version of that church that is being discussed above in Revelation.

Catholic prophecies tell of a rise of an ecumenical “Angelic Pastor” who will have the favor of Marian apparitions and the coming of an ecumenical antipope.  Pope Francis is not only highly ecumenical, but has taken more early Marian steps, including related to apparitions, earlier in his pontificate than other recent pontiffs.  Here are some edited Catholic prophecies about that are included in my book The Last Pope: Do Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Francis?:

Anne Catherine Emmerick (May 13, 1820): I saw again a new and odd-looking Church which they were trying to build. There was nothing holy about it…THIS IS BABEL.

Melanie Mathieu (19^th century): Rome will lose faith and become the seat of Antichrist.

Yves Dupont {reader and collector of Catholic prophecies}: “prophecies are quite explicit about the election of an anti-pope…Many prophecies predict an anti-pope and a schism.”

Catholic writer and priest P. Huchedé (19^th century): …the false prophet…will not be a king, nor a general of an army, but a clever apostate, fallen from episcopal dignity.  From being an apostle of the Gospel he will become the first preacher of the false messiah…

Catholic writers Ted and Maureen Flynn (1993): Catholic prophecy warns us of severe problems threatening the papacy in these end times…An Antipope will seize papal authority…

Priest Paul Kramer (21^st century): The errors of Orthodoxy and of Protestantism will be embraced by that false church, it will be an ecumenical church because the Anti-Pope will be recognized by the world — not by the faithful, but by the world — by the secular world and the secular governments. The Anti-Pope will be recognized as the legitimate Pope of the “church,” and the legitimate head of the Vatican State. That “church” will be united with all the false religions.

Catholic author and collector of prophecies D. Birch (20^th century): Many, many, of the prophecies refer to an Antipope for sometime in the future during which great calamities occur to the Church.

Bl. Anna-Maria Taigi (19th century): …the cardinal who is to become Pope… he will have the gift of miracles, and his name shall be praised over the whole earth.

Monk Hilarion (died 1476): Before the Christian churches are renovated and united, God will send the Eagle (Great Monarch) who will travel to Rome and bring much happiness and good.  The Holy Man (Angelic Pastor?) will bring peace between the clergy and the Eagle and his reign will last for four years.

R. Gerald Culleton (20^th century):  During the reign of the Great Monarch and the Angelic Pastor the Catholic Church will spread throughout the world, conversions will be innumerable…The Blessed Virgin will be the chief one in gaining victory over all heresy and schism because of her power over the demons in the last ages of the world will be especially great.  This will be recognized by her enthronement as “Mistress and Queen of Men’s Hearts.”

The Bible itself warns about a “Virgin” (Isaiah 47) who is the “harlot” of Revelation 18 that uses sorceries and enchantments.  The Bible also warms about the rise of an ecumenical religion (Revelation 13:4,8)–a ‘Superpope” could be a factor–especially if he does have miraculous powers (Revelation 13:12-17).  The “four year” reign referred to by Monk Hillarion is also consistent with biblical prophecies, such as the 1335 days of Daniel 12:12 (which is just under four years).  So, there are some consistencies and warnings here.

While it is still too early to tell for sure if Pope Francis or one of the leaders he just appointed is the individual who will be the final Antichrist, based upon the ecumenical direction that the Vatican has been taking and Pope Francis’ social. Marian, and economic statements, he remains a possibility.  A “Superpope” is not something to look forward to.