Why Should American Catholics Should Fear Unity with the Orthodox? (And the Protestants)

By COGwriter

Pope Francis has made ecumenical unity one of the major themes of his papacy.

That goal is not new. One of the goals of former Pope Benedict XVI was to secure a greater unity between the Church of Rome and the Eastern (Greek) Orthodox Church. Many within the those churches regard such unity favorably, while others are gravely concerned about ecumenical unity.

What most Roman Catholics seem to believe is that unity with the Greek Orthodox will simply mean that the Eastern Orthodox Catholics will accept the authority of Rome and the two groups will be back to relatively full union.

But that is not what certain of the Orthodox have in mind.

Furthermore, because of what is supposed to happen because of such ecumenical unity, it appears that this will result in the destruction of the Anglo-American nations such as the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.

Catholics and Orthodox Need to be Concerned About Compromises Related to Reunification

Notice carefully the following Catholic prophecy:

Frederick William Faber (died 1863): ... Antichrist ... Many believe in a demonical incarnation—this will not be so—but he will be utterly possessed ... His doctrine as apparent contradiction of no religion, yet a new religion ... He has an attending pontiff, so separating regal and prophetic office (Edward. Prophecy for Today. Imprimatur + A.J. Willinger, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno; Reprint: Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford (IL), 1984, p. 87).

That prophecy, which is in a book with an official imprimatur from a Catholic bishop (as well as others), suggests that there soon may be a change to the “Catholic” religion that will make it the religion of the final Antichrist. 

This change will not seem to be a contradiction, but it will be a new religion—like a new order within the Catholic religion. Likely one involving interfaith compromise (see also Will the Interfaith Movement Lead to Peace or Sudden Destruction?). 

While some Catholics are concerned that a change to their faith will occur, even Orthodox and others should also be concerned about this.

Here is one reason why from a Catholic source:

Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser (17th century): … there will be an ecumenical council which will be the greatest of all councils by the power of the Great Monarch, and by the authority of the Holy Pontiff, and by the union of the most devout princes, atheism and every heresy will be banished from the earth.  The Council will ... be believed and accepted by everyone (Dupont, Yves. Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement. TAN Books, Rockford (IL), 1973, p. 40).

Hence, an ecumenical council is prophesied to eliminate atheists and others who will not believe in a religion that will use the power of some coming Great Monarch. Also notice the following warning from a Catholic nun:

Anna-Katarina Emmerick (October 1, 1820): The Church is in great danger ... The Protestant doctrine and that of the schismatic Greeks are to spread everywhere.  I now see that in this place (Rome) the (Catholic) Church is being so cleverly undermined, that there hardly remain a hundred or so priests who have not been deceived.  They all work for the destruction, even the clergy.  A great destruction is now at hand ...

(April 22, 1823): I saw that many pastors allowed themselves to be taken up with ideas that were dangerous to the Church.  They were building a great, strange, and extravagant Church.  Everyone was admitted in it in order to be united and to have equal rights: Evangelicals, Catholics, sects of every description.  Such was to be the new Church (Dupont, pp. 66, 71).

Various events around the globe suggest that people of many faiths are getting to the point where they are likely to accept some type of ecumenical religion. Pope Francis also is compromising with some of the Protestants and others (see the article Beware! Protestants Going Towards Ecumenical Destruction! and watch the videos As far as some changes affecting Protestantism, watch the 2014 videos Charismatic Kenneth Copeland and Anglican Tony Palmer: Protestants Beware! and Should you be concerned about the ecumenical movement?).

But also notice something that happened in 2015:

Pope hopes 2017 Reformation anniversary will encourage Christian unity

May 6, 2015

Pope Francis says he hopes the 2017 anniversary of the Reformation, as well as a joint document by the Lutheran-Catholic commission for unity, will further encourage steps for Christian accord.

The Pope was referring to the Lutheran-Catholic unity document, “From Conflict to Communion” during a May 4 private meeting with Church of Sweden Archbishop Antje Jackelen. …

Francis said he hopes this initiative will encourage further steps toward unity, with God’s help, “and our collaboration with Him and one another,” Catholic News Agency reported.

On December 18, the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, Rev. Martin Junge, said relations between the Lutheran and Catholic churches have reached an epoch-making turning-point.

He spoke during preparations in Rome for the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017 when Lutherans and Catholics are expected to cooperate in an act of Christian unity. …

Pope Francis said at his meeting with Archbishop Jackelen that Christians seeking unity should not be afraid to broach potential areas of disagreement such as marriage, family, and sexuality.

“All Catholic faithful” are invited “to take up, recognize the signs of the times, the way of unity for overcoming divisions among Christians,” the pontiff said during his audience with Jackelen.

He said division is not only in opposition “to the will of Christ, but is also a scandal to the world and causes damage to the holiest of causes: the preaching of the Gospel to every creature.”  …

Born in Germany, Jackelen is the first female head of the Lutheran church in Sweden, and the nation’s first foreign archbishop since the 12th century.  http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/pope-hopes-2017-reformation-anniversary-will-encourage-christian-unity-29564

So the Church of Rome is striving for unity with the Lutherans, continues to want to work together for 2017, and met with the primate of the Church of Sweden and discussed unity.

While, on the surface, some Roman and Eastern Orthodox Catholics will like that, consider, for example, some of the anti-Christian beliefs of the woman, Antje Jackelén, who is the primate Bishop of the Church of Sweden:

Jackelén has published several works which deal with the relationship between the natural sciences and religious faith, as well as the role of religion in modern society. Jackelén doesn’t believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. She has said that the virgin birth is a mythological term or a metaphor rather than an actual event. She endorses the theory of evolution and sees no contradiction in believing both in God and in evolution.

She supports same-sex marriage in church, while calling for the state to support the institution of marriage as such. (Antje Jackelén. Wikipedia, accessed 05/08/15)

The Bible is clear that Jesus was born of a virgin (e.g. Matthew 1:18-25; see also Virgin Birth: Does the Bible Teach It?), that God created all life (see Genesis 1; Exodus 20:11; also Is Evolution Probable or Impossible or Is God’s Existence Logical?), and that homosexual relations are an abomination (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; see also The Bible Condemns Homosexuality).

Antje Jackelén is also married (to a man). And while the Bible does endorse that bishops get married, the Church of Rome does not endorse that (see also Was Celibacy Required for Early Bishops or Presbyters?). 

Furthermore, the Bible specifies that bishops are to be males (1 Timothy 3:1-5; Titus 1:5-7). The Bible does not endorse the ordination of women, but men. To accept females as bishops is clearly in contrast to what the Bible teaches (information on female religious roles can be found in the article Women and the New Testament Church). This also goes against the teachings and traditions of both the Roman and Eastern Orthodox Catholics.

As far as the Protestants go, Pope Francis and others have applauded unity. The Bible warns that after the first seal of Revelation 6:1-2 is opened, the rider of the white horse of the apocalypse will ride and conquer spiritually (watch also Ecumenism and the ride of the White Horse of the Apocalypse).

There will be more compromise.

Perhaps this would be a good time to also mention some of the differences between the Orthodox and the Church of Rome that one or both will have to compromise on for unity to occur.  Here are several such differences:

1. The Eastern Orthodox reject the Roman Catholic notion of purgatory (Ware, T. The Orthodox Church. Penguin Books, London, 1997, p.p. 255 and Aghiorgoussis, Maximos. The Dogmatic Tradition of the Orthodox Church. Copyright:  © 1990-1996. http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8038.asp 08/18/07).

2. The Eastern Orthodox number the ten commandments as they originally were (Mastrantonis, G. The Ten Commandments. Copyright:  © 1990-1996 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article7115.asp 05/14/07) and not as the Roman Catholics number them.  Those of Rome combine the first two, even though that is not what those such as Clement of Alexander (2nd century) did (Clement of Alexandria. Stromata, Book VI).

3. The Eastern Orthodox believe in baptism by immersion (Ware, p. 278). The Roman Catholics usually employ sprinkling.

4. Most of the Eastern Orthodox (presuming no abortive devices are used), as do most others, believe in “the responsible use of contraception within marriage” (Ware, p.296 and Harakis S. The Stand of the Orthodox Church on Controversial Issues. http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article7101.asp 8/20/05). The Roman Catholic position seems to be much more limited.

5. The Eastern Orthodox reject “the dogma of the immaculate conception of the Virgin” (Clendenin D.B. ed. Eastern Orthodox Theology, 2nd ed. Baker Academic, 2003, p.67).  That is a Roman Catholic dogma (Ott L.  Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma.  Translated into English by James Bastible. Nihil Obstat: Jeremiah J. O’Sullivan.  Imprimatur + Cornelius, 7 October 1954.  Reprint TAN Books, Rockford (IL), 1974, pp. 199-202).

6. The Eastern Orthodox teach that presbyters (which they call “priests,” but we in the Church of God) tend to call “ministers” or “elders”) can be married (Damaskinos Papandreou, Orthodox Metropolitan of Switzerland. The Orthodox Churches and Priestly Celibacy. http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/misc/damaskinos_celibacy.htm viewed 02/04/08). The Roman Church requires celibacy for all presbyters, even though that was not its original position (Fortesque A. Transcribed by Marie Jutras. Eastern Monasticism. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume X. Copyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).

7. The Eastern Orthodox, similar to the Church of God, teach that, “Christians must always be ‘People of the Book’ “ (Ware, p.199). Yet, throughout history, the Church of Rome has tended to place more emphasis on the Living Magisterium and non-biblical sources for much of its doctrines.

8. The Eastern Orthodox do not observe Ash Wednesday.  The Church of Rome admits that it added this observance in the Middle Ages (Thurston, Herbert. "Ash Wednesday." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 4 May 2009 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01775b.htm>).

9. The Orthodox do not believe in the concept of “papal infallibility.” That concept became a dogma for the Church of Rome in the 19th century (at Vatican I) (McBrien, Richard P. Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI. Harper, San Francisco, 2005 updated ed., pp. 20-22).

10. Many (though not all) of the Eastern Orthodox, like the Church of God, believe that God has a plan of salvation that can occur at the time of the final judgment. (Ware, p.255).  The Roman Church rejects the idea that salvation can be available after the first death and this has been clearly stated by Pope Benedict (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1021. Imprimi Potest + Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Doubleday, New York, 1994, p. 153).

11. The Roman Catholic view of eternal torment is rejected by the Eastern Orthodox (Ware, p. 262).

12. Roman Catholics used an unleavened host for their eucharist, whereas the Eastern Orthodox use leavened bread (see also ).

12. Neither the Orthodox nor Protestants believe that the jurisdiction of Rome has any real bearing on apostolic succession.

It perhaps should be pointed out that the Orthodox, who generally make less pronouncements than the Vatican tends to, condemned the papacy as a major heresy in 1848:

" 2. Hence have arisen manifold and monstrous heresies which the Catholic Church, even from her infancy, has been forced to combat with the panoply of God, and ' the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God,' and has triumphed over all unto this day, and will triumph to the end, ever shining forth brighter and stronger after the struggle.

" 3. Of these heresies some have altogether perished, some are in their decline, but others nourish more or less, until the time of their overthrow, when, being struck with the lightning of the anathema of of the seven (Ecumenical Synods, they become extinct, even though they last for a thousand years; for the orthodoxy of the Catholic Apostolic Church, as inspired by the living Word of God, alone endures for ever, according to the infallible promise of our Lord...—Matt, xviii. 18.

" 4. Of these heresies widely-diffused was formerly Arianism, and now is the Papacy, which, though still flourishing, shall, like the former, pass away and be cast down, and a great voice from Heaven shall cry, ' It is cast down.'—Rev. xii. 10...

" 10. Every one of our brethren and children in Christ clearly perceives that the words of the present Bishop of Rome, like those of his anti-synodical predecessors, are not words of peace and compassion, as he says, but of deceit and quibbling, tending to self-aggrandisement; but the orthodox will not be beguiled therewith, for the Word of the Lord is sure—' A stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers.'

(Encyclical Letter of the Eastern Orthodox, 1848. As cited in The Benares magazine, No. 31, 1851. W.H. Haycock, 1851. Original from Oxford University Digitized, Nov 24, 2006, pp. 370-371,373)

The above is a strong condemnation. Especially if you consider that "Rev. xii. 10" teaches about the "accuser of the brethren"--a reference to Satan in verse 9--being cast down. Thus, the Orthodox officially seem to have condemned the papacy as Satan the devil in the 19th century.

The Roman Church has officially claimed that apostolic succession was lost by the Orthodox and others when they stopped accepting the jurisdiction of Rome:

Regarding the Greek Church, it is sufficient to note that it lost Apostolic succession by withdrawing from the jurisdiction of the lawful successors of St. Peter in the See of Rome. The same is to be said of the Anglican claims to continuity (O’Reilly, Thomas. “Apostolicity.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907).

Thus, the Church of Rome will have to change to accept the Orthodox, especially if it accepts its clergy. It is also likely that the Orthodox will compromise on some of the above points.

Also notice what Pope Boniface VIII included in 1302 in what is known as the bull Unam Sanctum:

...if the Greeks or others say that they are not committed to Peter and his successors, they necessarily confess that they are not Christ’s sheep...(Bettenson H, ed., Documents of the Christian Church. London: Oxford University Press, 1943, pp. 126-127).

It perhaps should be mentioned that many respected Roman Catholic scholars have admitted that Rome simply does not have provable “apostolic succession” itself.  They also realize that Rome probably did not have its first “bishop” until the middle of the second century (Duffy, Eamon. Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes. Yale University Press, New Haven (CT), 2002, pp.2,6; Sullivan F.A. From Apostles to Bishops: the development of the episcopacy in the early church. Newman Press, Mahwah (NJ), 2001, pp. 13-15, 221-222; McBrien, Richard P. Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI. Harper, San Francisco, 2005 updated ed., pp. 25, 396; Van Hove A. Transcribed by Matthew Dean. Bishop. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume II. Copyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York; Kasper, Cardinal Walter. Keynote speech from the Conference of the Society for Ecumenical Studies, the St. Alban's Christian Study Centre and the Hertfordshire Newman Association at St. Alban's Abbey, Hertfordshire, England, on May 17, 2003). For more details, please see the articles What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History? and Apostolic Succession.

Years ago, I wrote that a coming false Vatican leader would likely take a different position—thus those who compromise with him will also be compromising from the facts of history. This compromise has already began. In March 2014, Pope Francis made a major compromise with Protestants (see Beware: Protestants Going Towards Ecumenical Destruction!). Furthermore, in April 2014, Fouad Twal, the Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins, seemingly took this a step further when he was interviewed by the pro-Vatican news agency Zenit.  Notice one question and his answer:

ZENIT: Beginning, perhaps, with us Christians, how do you regard the Holy Father’s steps towards rapprochement with the Eastern Churches? 

–Fouad Twal: One of our crosses here in the Holy Land is also the division of Christians. We have three great families, the Catholic, the Orthodox and the Reformers. We are thirteen Churches in total, each one with its own administration. Through our institutions, the Catholic Church has broken down these divisions, because we accept all Christians.

Before God and history, I feel responsible for the whole Christian community in the Holy Land, regardless of the rite. A rite can be richness, but it can never be a source of division. With the arrival of the Holy Father, who wishes to commemorate the meeting of 1964 (between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, ndr), I hope that this ecumenical movement will take on new life and hope. http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/may-jerusalem-be-the-capital-of-the-world

The position of earlier pontiffs and bishops was that the Church of Rome did not accept all Christians, but only those who accepted the authority of the Roman pontiff.  Rome is more and more adopting an ecumenical stance.  A stance that many leaders in the Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches like. Historically, the Church of Rome has tended to consider those in groups like the Continuing Church of God as apostates, and will do so in the future.  It is those of the Greco-Roman persuasion that the current ecumenical movement considers to be ‘Christian,’ but the ecumenical movement errs in that as well (to learn more about the history of true Christianity, check out the free booklet (The Continuing History of the Church of God).

Notice something that Pope Francis stated:

Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our catechesis on the Church, we have seen that God gathered a people to himself in the Old Testament and in the fullness of time sent his Son to establish the Church as the sacrament of unity for all humanity. God calls each of us to belong to this great family. None of us become Christians on our own; we owe our relationship with God to so many others who passed on the faith, who brought us for Baptism, who taught us to pray and showed us the beauty of the Christian life: our parents and grandparents, our priests, religious and teachers. But we are Christians not only because of others, but together with others. (English Summary of Pope's Audience on the Church. Zenit.org, June 25, 2014. http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/english-summary-of-pope-s-audience-on-the-church--2)

He, somewhat subtly seems to be indicating that perhaps all baptisms are equally valid.

Much more ecumenical compromise is expected. But not just from the Church of Rome.

Notice also the following:

Francis, leader of the world’s billion-plus Catholics, and Bartholomew, patriarch of the ancient Orthodox See of Constantinople, met in Jerusalem Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the meeting of their respective predecessors, Paul VI and Athenagoras. The 1964 encounter saw the lifting of the mutual excommunications of 1054 and launched the contemporary effort to find a path to unity between Eastern and Western Christianity.

During a press conference on his way back to Rome Monday, Francis revealed that in their private meeting prior to Sunday's public liturgy, he and Patriarch Bartholomew "spoke about the unity we create as we walk together."

The May 25, 2014, meeting—the original reason for the papal pilgrimage—saw the two religious leaders sign a common declaration in which they said they were taking a “new and necessary step on the journey towards the unity to which only the Holy Spirit can lead us, that of communion in legitimate diversity.” ...

“I thought it was very interesting that Pope Francis in his remarks renewed very explicitly the call of Pope John Paul II in Ut Unum Sint, that desire to have a dialogue so as to find a way of exercising the papal ministry that would be faithful to its true nature but nevertheless open to a new situation so that it could be seen by all to be of service of love and communion,” said Msgr. McPartlan, who is also the Carl J. Peter Professor of Systematic Theology and Ecumenism at The Catholic University of America in Washington. ...

“To Orthodox, [Francis’ invocation of Ut Unum Sint is a] kind of affirmation of the fact that we recognize that as a critical issue that needs resolution,” added Father Thomas FitzGerald, professor of Church history and historical theology at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Massachusetts. “The reconciliation kind of hinges on how we both examine the whole issue of the primacy of the bishop of Rome. … It’s an ongoing discussion. Both Churches have to reflect more deeply upon the inter-relationship between primacy and conciliarity. To us that’s the key. You can’t talk about primacy without conciliarity or synodality, and you can’t talk about synodality without primacy.”

(Burger J. Catholic-Orthodox Communion: The Goal of Francis and Bartholomew. Aleteia, May 27, 2014. http://www.aleteia.org/en/religion/article/catholic-orthodox-communion-the-goal-of-francis-and-bartholomew-5346435033726976 viewed 05/31/14)

Cardinal Koch: “We don’t have problems with Constantinople” and “Patriarch Bartholomew very open”

September 26, 2014  (Source: http://www.news.va/en/news)

In an interview for Vatican Radio, Cardinal Koch, the Vatican’s chief ecumenist, and their representative at the recently held ecumenist meeting in Amman, Jordan (hosted by the Jerusalem Patriarchate, under Theophilos III), commented on how the resolution of problems within the World Orthodox patriarchates would be solved at the 2016 “Pan-Orthodox Synod”; this would enable the next step in the “Catholic-Orthodox dialogue”.  Cardinal Koch noted how the MP representatives, especially Met. Hilarion (Alfeyev), objected to the concept of the Pope’s primacy on a ‘theological level’ but, not on a pragmatic level. He also stated that interaction with the Moscow Patriarchate and its representatives was very productive. (http://nftu.net/cardinal-koch-ecumenism-we-problems-constantinople-patriarch-bartholomew-open/ viewed 10/04/14)

The Bible warns about the type of unity that these groups are working on (Revelation 13:4,8; 17; 18).

To reduce complaints and disagreements, Pope Francis has gone so far as to warn people against committing "sins against unity":

“In a Christian community division is one of the most serious sins, because it does not allow God to act,” the Pope said in his Aug. 27 general audience address. “What God wants is that we be welcoming, that we forgive and love each other so as to become more and more like Him, who is communion and love.”

Addressing the thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the Roman Pontiff explained that as Catholics “we affirm in the Creed that the Church is one and that she is holy.”

“One because she has her origin in the Triune God, mystery of unity and full communion. Holy since she is founded by Jesus Christ, enlivened by his Holy Spirit, and filled with his love and salvation.”

We continue to refer to the Church as “one” and “holy” despite the fact that “we know by experience that it is also composed of sinners and that there is no shortage of divisions,” he said, recalling how the night before he was arrested Jesus “asked for the unity of his disciples: ‘that all be one.’”

“We trust in his desire that unity will be one of the characteristic features of our community,” the Pope continued, noting that “While we, the members of the Church, are sinners, the unity and holiness of the Church arise from God and call us daily to conversion.”

Observing how “We have an intercessor in Jesus, who prays…for our unity with him and the Father, and with each other,” the Bishop of Rome drew attention to the sins that often cause division.

“Sins against unity are not only schisms,” he said, “but also the most common weeds of our communities: envies, jealousies, antipathies...talking bad about others. This is human, but it is not Christian.” (Harris E. Pope: division is among greatest sins of Christian communities. CNA, August 27, 2014. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-division-is-the-greatest-sin-of-christian-communities-12972/)

According to the Apostle Jude, it is a requirement, and not a sin, to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" Jude 3, NKJV) or to "fight hard for the faith which has been once and for all entrusted to God's holy people" as the NJB puts it. Compromising part of the true faith for the sake of unity is the sin here.

While there are certain ceremonial similarities (as well as differences) between the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, if people really wish to become “the people of the book” they need to reject all non-biblical doctrines and not enter into greater unity with groups that promote non-biblical doctrines (as well as look into many of their own doctrines). 

The Filioque Clause

Of course, the most famous difference has to do with what is called the Filioque clause added to the original Nicene Creed. It is the claimed major doctrinal issue that it caused the schism that resulted in the Eastern Orthodox (sometimes called the Greek, or Greek Orthodox, Church) Church to break from the Roman Catholic Church in 1054 A.D.

The Catholic Encyclopedia states:

Filioque is a theological formula of great dogmatic and historical importance. On the one hand, it expresses the Procession of the Holy Ghost from both Father and Son as one Principle; on the other, it was the occasion of the Greek schism (Maas A.J. Filioque, 1909).

Eastern Orthodox writers (like Timothy Ware), and others, have suggested that this clause is supportive of binitarianism, and thus should not be accepted by the Roman Catholic Church who insisted on this addition to the original Nicene Creed.

The ''filioque'' clause states that the Holy Spirit, "proceeds from the Father and the Son".

The Catholic Encyclopedia also states:

The dogma of the double Procession of the Holy Ghost from Father and Son as one Principle is directly opposed to the error that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father, not from the Son. Neither dogma nor error created much difficulty during the course of the first four centuries...As to the Sacred scripture, the inspired writers call the holy Ghost the Spirit of the Son (Gal., iv, 6), the spirit of Christ (Rom., viii, 9), the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil., i, 19), just as they call Him the Spirit of the Father (Matt., x, 20) and the Spirit of God (I Cor., ii, ll). Hence they attribute to the Holy Ghost the same relation to the Son as to the Father. Again, according to Sacred Scripture, the Son sends the Holy Ghost (Luke, xxiv, 49; John, xv, 26; xvi, 7; xx, 22; Acts, ii, 33,; Tit., iii.6)...as the Father sends the Holy Ghost (John, xiv, 26) (Maas A.J. Filioque, 1909).

I would agree that the above quote is true and in accordance with history and with scripture. But who will change on this, the Vatican or the Orthodox?

Someone has to for unity to occur.

Orthodox Expect the Catholics to Change for Unity to Occur

But will it be the Romans or the Orthodox who will change?  Or will it be both?

When I was in Istanbul in May 2008, I visited the offices of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who was then, and is now, Patriarch Bartholomew.  One of his people told me that when Pope Benedict XVI visited there, a papal representative of Benedict XVI told Patriarch Bartholomew) that Rome would change all doctrines necessary to attain full unity with the Orthodox, if the Orthodox would accept papal authority. The representative told me that while Patriarch Bartholomew was interested in ecumenical unity, that the subject of papal supremacy vs. primacy was the major sticking point to unity.

COGwriter Leaving the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople’s Administrative Building

These doctrinal changes definitely included changing Rome’s position on the Filioque clause. Hence, those associated with the Church of Rome need to understand that this means that the Vatican’s current (and likely future) leadership is willing to compromise on something that it has long held as being of “great dogmatic and historical importance.” Thus, this strongly suggests that those leading the Church of Rome have embarked on an ecumenical program of change such as the Bible and various Catholic prophecies have warned about. 

It also needs to be understood that while some of the Eastern Orthodox are looking forward to a Roman Catholic Great Monarch to be the “King of the Romans and the Greeks,”(Tzima Otto, H.  The Great Monarch and WWIII in Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Scriptural Prophecies.  Verenikia Press, Rock Hill (SC), 2000, pp. 5-6) other Greek Orthodox (The Voice of the Fathers) believe that they only should follow a Greek Orthodox future monarch (The Voice of the Fathers is apparently a Greek Orthodox publication that opposes a Roman Catholic, as opposed to Greek Orthodox, Great Monarch, see Tzima Otto, pp, 34-38).  The Orthodox should definitely not follow a Roman Catholic Great Monarch if they wish to follow the teachings of the Bible.

In 1302, Pope Boniface VIII issued what is known as the bull Unam Sanctum that claimed:

We are obliged by the faith to believe and to hold—and we do firmly believe and sincerely confess—that there is one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and that outside this Church there is neither salvation nor remission of sins…

Therefore, if the Greeks or others say that they are not committed to Peter and his successors, they necessarily confess that they are not Christ’s sheep…

…in this Church and in her power are two swords…Both are in the power of the Church, the spiritual sword and the material. But the latter is to be used for the Church, the former by her; the former by the priest, the latter by kings and captains but at the will of the priest…

Furthermore, we declare, state, define, and pronounce that it is altogether necessary for salvation for every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff. (Bull Unam Sanctum as cited in Bettenson H, ed., Documents of the Christian Church. London: Oxford University Press, 1943, pp. 126-127).

Notice that his position was quite definite. I mention that because I believe that many within the Vatican now have a different view and will compromise in many, many ways, to ultimately entice most of the Orthodox (called the Greeks above) and others into a revised ecumenical faith that will call itself “Catholic.”

Since Vatican II (a major Catholic ecumenical council that ran from 1962–1965), many Catholics have been justifiably concerned that doctrinal compromise for the sake of ecumenical unity with those outside of fellowship of Rome was inevitable.

The Orthodox have long taught that the Church of Rome (known sometimes as Latins) will change doctrines to those of the Orthodox.  A document known as the Anonymou Prophecy of 1053 refers to this as the “Deferring of the Latins to the error-free faith of the Orthodox,” it then claims “The Orthodox Faith will expand from East to West” (Tzima Otto, p. 116).

Here is an explanation from Orthodox scholar H. Tzima-Otto (bolding in original):

Many Catholic prophecies speak of the victory of the ‘true Catholic faith’, while Orthodox prophecies, although they agree on everything else, predict a victory of the ‘true Orthodox faith’…When we speak of the future Council, it is bound to be ecumenical…there will come a true re-unification of the Christian Churches…This Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is not going to be Roman Catholic as understood today…

The error-free Orthodox faith…The Orthodox did not experience a Vatican II, they did not begin to rewrite Scriptures…Hence, error-free in the sense that it has not been contaminated by satan…(Tzima Otto, pp. 120-122)

Thus, the Orthodox expect Rome to change its doctrines, because they feel that the Roman Catholic Church adopted errors from satan.

Even the Russian Orthodox Church is indicating that the Church of Rome must change and that it wants to help it do so. A top cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vsevolod Chaplin (who has been and still may be its official spokesman), made the news for some bold comments:

West has betrayed Christianity, Russia will save it – Orthodox Church official

14 May 2012

Our Orthodox civilization may not be that large, but today it has a key role in the world as it knows how to find a way to a better life for the whole world and especially Europe,”Chaplin said on Monday during a videoconference between Moscow, Kiev and Minsk.The West has betrayed the ideals of Christianity, which Emperors Constantine and Justinian merged with Roman law, Chaplin says. In his opinion, the Europe, which was based on these principles, no longer exists.

Bearing this in mind, the Eastern Christian civilization should not follow in the steps of either the “weak-willed West” or the “intellectually weak East, ” he says.  http://rt.com/politics/christianity-russia-orthodox-church-205/

The above is not only a criticism of Europe, but of the Vatican as it is suggesting that the western church is "weak-willed" amongst other things. The Orthodox want Rome to change and hope to help it do that.

Pope Francis is publicly discussing change. Notice the following in Italian, which is followed by a machine-translation into English:

Papa agli ortodossi: “Disposti a data comune per la Pasqua”. Sulla questione femminile: “La Chiesa è donna”

12 giugno 2015

DIALOGO ecumenico e ruolo delle donne nella Chiesa al centro del lungo intervento, una ‘meditazione’, che Papa Francesco ha tenuto nella cattedrale di Roma, la Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, in occasione del raduno mondiale dei sacerdoti.

Bergoglio, che ha annunciato un prossimo viaggio a novembre in Repubblica Centrafricana e in Uganda (mentre per il Kenya non ci sono certezze), ha annunciato la disponibilità della Chiesa cattolica a stabilire una data fissa sulla Pasqua per celebrare la risurrezione di Cristo, in modo che possa essere festeggiata nello stesso giorno da tutti i cristiani, siano essi cattolici, protestanti o ortodossi.

Il Papa ha definito “molto buono” il rapporto con il patriarca Bartolomeo di Costantinopoli, che, ha rivelato, aveva invitato a Roma per presentare la sua enciclica ecologica la settimana prossima. Francesco ha sottolineato l’esistenza di scambi anche con il patriarca di Mosca Kirill, esprimendo grande fiducia nel prossimo sinodo panortodosso. Sulla Pasqua, ha affermato: “La Chiesa Cattolica è disponibile a rinunciare alla data determinata per la domenica di Pasqua dal primo plenilunio dopo l’equinozio di primavera. Dobbiamo metterci d’accordo e la Chiesa Cattolica è disposta sin dai tempi di Paolo VI a fissare una data e rinunciare al primo solstizio dopo la luna piena di marzo”. Pope to Orthodox: “Willing to common date for Easter”. On women’s issues: “The Church is a woman”

June 12, 2015

Ecumenical Dialogue and the role of women in the Church at the center of the long speech, a ‘meditation’, which Pope Francis held in the cathedral of Rome, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, on the occasion of the world meeting of priests.

Bergoglio, who announced an upcoming trip in November in the Central African Republic and Uganda (while for Kenya there are no certainties), today announced the availability of the Catholic Church to establish a fixed date on Easter to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, so that would be celebrated on the same day by all Christians, whether Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox.

The Pope has called “very good” relationship with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, which, revealed, had invited him to Rome to present his encyclical ecological next week. Francis pointed out the existence of trade with the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill, expressing great confidence in the next pan-Orthodox synod. On Easter, he said: “The Catholic Church is willing to give up the given date for Easter Sunday from the first full moon after the spring equinox. We have to come to an agreement and the Catholic Church is willing since the time of Paul VI set a date and give up the first solstice after the full moon of March. ”

Understand that Pope Francis publicly stated that he would change the date of Passover (the media decided to call it 'Easter') to the date that the Eastern Orthodox observe if that would result in ecumenical unity. The change of the date of Passover from the 14th of Nisan to a Sunday is one of the first documented heresies in post New Testament history (the Continuing Church of God keeps the original date--details on church history are found in the booklet Continuing History of the Church of God).  That heresy was adopted by the Greco-Roman churches in the second century in Rome, Alexandria, and after 135 A.D., the apostate church of Jerusalem.

Despite many Catholic-Protestants believing that 'Easter' is the most sacred day of the year, Pope Francis has pledged to change the date to show cooperation with the Eastern Orthodox.  The announcement by Pope Francis is another step by Rome to attempt to move the ecumenical movement forward.  It would not surprise me that many Protestants would change the date of Easter if Rome does so.

Orthodox Condemnation of Rome and Meeting to Resolve Differences

Some Orthodox bishops oppose the ecumenical movement, and many have denounced the papacy.

In 2014, two Greek Orthodox Bishops formally denounced Pope Francis and the ecumenical movement. Here are excerpts from a letter they sent:

To His Excellency, Francis,
Head of State of the Vatican City
Vatican City, Rome

Your Excellency,

With due respect and sincere love, we send you this Episcopal letter, the purpose of which doesn’t come from any selfish motive, but from pure, sincere and selfless Christian love, from Christian duty, from an essential commandment of our Savior Christ, Who “desires all men to be saved and to come to a full knowledge of the truth,” and finally from a warm and ardent desire for your salvation. Because of this we feel it to be our holy and mandatory duty, as the least of the members of the All-holy and All-pure Body of Christ, and especially as Orthodox Bishops, who belong as such to the Holy Synod of the Holy Autocephalous Church of Greece, which is our highest ecclesiastical authority, as to the whole and Undivided One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church, to endeavor with all our might to restore you to the Mother Orthodox Catholic Church, from which you left and from which you were cut off, a work which we hope, the Uncreated Divine Grace of the Lord cooperating, shall be achieved...

From the outset we must clarify that we Orthodox, not taking part in the politically correct spirit of western and especially ecumenist “Christianity,” do not refer to those religious communities who have, sadly, been separated from the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church as “Churches.” But, following the example of our Holy Fathers throughout the ages, refer to them as heretics, and you, Your Excellency, and your followers, we denominate as “Papists” and your heresy as “Papism.”...

We unceasingly pray that our Lord Jesus Christ gather together the deluded “Pope” and his followers, through repentance and the renunciation of your delusion and heresy, into the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, Orthodox Church and to assume as an Orthodox Pope, according to seniority of honor of the Pentarchy and in agreement with the Divine and Holy Canons, the Chairmanship of honor of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches as “primus inter pares.”

An additional reason, which shows the timeliness and importance of our present Episcopal epistle, are the intrigues in the realm of the modern heretical Ecumenical Movement with its ecumenist theological dialogues between Orthodox and Papists, where the representatives from the Orthodox side, animated unfortunately by the panheretical spirit of inter-Christian and inter-religious syncretistic ecumenism, and employing the false ecumenist love, a “love” without true love and unity in the Orthodox faith, deceive you, Your Excellency, claiming that Papism is a so called “Church,” and moreover a “sister Church,” with valid Mysteries (Sacraments), Baptism, the Priesthood and Grace, that Papism and Orthodoxy make up the so-called, “two lungs,” with which the Church of Christ breaths, that you, the heretical “Pope,” are a canonical bishop, successor of the Apostle Peter and Vicar of Christ on earth, who possess the Apostolically, Scripturally and Patristically groundless and non-existent “Petrine” primacy of power over all the Church, and the blasphemous “Papal Infallibility,” instead of the true primacy of honor (διά τό εἶναι τήν Ρώμην πρωτεύουσα) as is commanded by the Holy Canons of the undivided Church of the first millennium to which the Orthodox Pope of Rome and Patriarch of the West is entitled, doctrines that are totally unknown and without foundation or witness in the general Tradition of the Catholic Orthodox Church of the first ten centuries and of the eight Holy Ecumenical Councils, doctrines which are a clear blasphemy against the All-Holy Spirit and which show your theological departure and the satanic pride of which you are possessed. Clear proof of the absurdity of the Orthodox Ecumenists is that, while they attribute to you ecclesiastical titles, you who are obviously heretical and erroneous in belief, they do not dare, even though it would be in keeping with their declarations, to come into sacramental communion with you, because they know from that moment they will immediately lose their own ecclesiastical identity. Does this not make up the most blatant proof of the false doctrines of Ecumenism?...

In communicating with you through this present Episcopal letter, we desire that it be made known to you that, according to the diachronic Holy Scriptural, Canonical and Patristic Tradition and according to the infallible conscience of the fullness of the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church, Papism, of which you are the leader, Your Excellency, is not a “Church,” but a religious community, a parasynagogue, a heresy, an alteration, a demolishing and a total perversion of the Truth, namely, of the very God-man, Christ. Hosts of Orthodox Councils have condemned Papism as a heresy...

Papism is not a “Church” but a State – the Vatican, a worldly organization, with a government, with you, the “Pope,” as leader, with the Cardinals as Ministers and Secretaries and with the “Bank of the Holy Spirit.” Neither is Papism a “Roman Catholic Church,” because it is neither Roman, nor Catholic, nor a Church. It has no relation with Romiosini or with Romania. It isn’t Catholic since it separated of its own will from the Catholic Orthodox Church in 1054 A.D. and since then it doesn’t possess the fullness of the Orthodox Faith of our Holy Fathers, which you have distorted. You are not a Church, since you became a State, falling, instead, to the third temptation of Christ.7 You accepted the Devil’s proposal to make you almighty earthly rulers in return for your allegiance to him. We Orthodox are the true Roman Catholic Church. We Orthodox are the Romans: to us belong Romania, Romiosini. Orthodoxy is the One Holy, CATHOLIC, and Apostolic Church, the true Roman Catholic Church, as we confess in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Symbol of Faith.

The fact that Papism is a heresy is revealed by the appalling false doctrines which you confess. These are: I) the political existence and structure of the Vatican with ministries, bureaucracies and banks; II) the Filioque (the alleged procession of the Holy Spirit also from the Son); III) created Grace; IV) the primacy of power; V) the possession of worldly and spiritual power by the Pope; VI) Papal infallibility; VII) the theories that the Pope is the ultimate judge and Archpriest, the supreme authority and monarch of the Church; VIII) Baptism by sprinkling and the separation of it from the mystery of Chrismation; IX) the use of unleavened bread (Host); X) the transforming of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ with the words of institution rather than at the invocation of the Holy Spirit as well as the doctrine of transubstantiation; XI) the depriving of the Blood of Christ to the laity; XII) the depriving of Holy Communion to children; XIII) Maryworship; XIV) the dogma of the “immaculate conception” and the “bodily assumption” of the Mother of God; XV) purgatory; XVI) indulgences; XVII) the so-called “superabundant merits” of Christ; XVIII) the “superabundant merits” of the Saints; XIX) the merits of the works of man; XX) statuary and the secularization of religious art instead of Orthodox iconography; XXI) the mandatory celibacy of the clergy; XXII) the recognition of murderers (Stepinac) as “saints”; XXIII) the doctrine of the satisfaction of divine justice (the result of confusion regarding original sin and the legalism which is prevalent in Papism); XXIV) the rejection of Holy Tradition and the taking advantage of it as a tool for Papal claims (the Pope is Tradition); XXV) the belief that the “infallible Pope” is the only guardian, judge and interpreter of Divine Revelation; XXVI) the socalled “Church Suffering,” which is allegedly made up of the faithful who are presently in purgatory; XXVII) the rejection of the equality of bishops; XXVIII) the Vatican’s centralized and despotic administrative system where the “Pope” is absolute monarch, which introduced Caesaropapism; XXIX) the social/humanitarian character of the monastic orders; XXX) the impersonal and juridical character of the mystery of confession; XXXI) and, finally, the accursed Uniate, the Trojan horse of Papism...

Your election, Your Excellency, was not a chance event, for the World-Wide Centers of decision-making, seeing the financial rise of many of the countries of Latin America decided to promote your election as leader of the Vatican, in order to use your interventions for their own interests. That is the conclusion of an analysis of special scientists who are involved in the science of geo-politics and geo-strategy (chiefly the former). The analysts maintain that the “World-Wide Centers of Decision Making” designated your new role specifically to “renounce” the basic title of Leader of Vatican State, which bothers the faithful of other “Christian confessions,” and to accept the title of Bishop or of Patriarch of the West, even though you are outside of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church (Orthodoxy) and to behave more as a spiritual father and less as the leader of the Vatican State. Nor was it happenstance that the General Secretary of the U.N., Ban Ki-moon, greeted you as “a world spiritual leader (23rd April).” This happened at your meeting with him during which Your Excellency was asked by your country to do philanthropic work and to “approach people of different religions and non believers.” This means that at the Vatican you will be working out a parallel scheme of communication and propaganda in order to carry out proselytization in the countries you will target...

The term “Jesuit,” which according to the Greek Professor of linguistics, G. Babiniotis, is synonymous with “hypocrite and tartuffe,” for the members of the undivided and unchanged Orthodox Catholic Church, concerns the Papist monastic order which was founded in 1543 by the Spaniard, Ignatius of Loyola, and the Basque, Francis Xavier, for the countering of the Reformation and the uprising of the people of Europe against the departures of papocesarism. In fact, this order is guilty of the savage polemics and insidious actions towards the martyric and Holy Patriarch of Constantinople, Cyril Lucaris, who was murdered in a horrific manner in 1638...

In 2006 the Argentinean reporter Horacio Verbitsky, in his book, The Silence, accused you, Jorge Mario Bergoglio and now Francis I, as a direct collaborator of the Junta of Videla, relying on the personal accounts of five Papist “clergy,” from whom you removed, as the then “bishop” Bergoglio of Buenos Aires and the Argentinean “eparch” of the “Society of Jesus,” the permission to perform missionary work in the Shanty towns of Buenos Aires, thus providing the opportunity for Videla’s Junta to arrest them. The prominent human rights lawyer, Myriam Bregman, basing her work on the testimonies of the Jesuits Yorio and Jalics, supplies the significant information that, after torture sessions in the Junta’s prisons, the two Jesuits were thrown from a helicopter. They, however, lived to tell of the “accomplishments” and “charity” of the seemingly humanitarian, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Francis I...

We ask Your Excellency: At what point in time did the Church become grateful for the fact that the heterodox Jews preserved a faith that vehemently denies the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ? You also said many other similar things. We believe, however, that even this small sampling of your own words clearly shows the complete absence of an ecclesiastical conscience on your part. You who are presented as the “Vicar of Christ on Earth” and “First of the Church”!

Can it really be possible, we ask, that you are also not aware as the “Christian Pope” that the hideous Global Zionism,54 which was condemned as extremely racist by the U.N. (when the U.N. was truly free) changed the theism of the Old Testament and the Prophets into shameful Satanism, with the demonic Kabbalah and the vulgar Talmud, work of the demonized Rabbis of fallen Judaism and of their ideals regarding world wide government and domination, through the still awaited false messiah, namely Antichrist?..

Along with the Jews, Your Excellency is a favorite of the Freemasons, who, according to their own publications, were anxiously awaiting your election and rejoiced when you were chosen! In a statement by the “Grand Master,” G. Raffi, he stresses that, “With Pope Francis, nothing will be as it was before. It is a clear choice of fraternity for a Church of dialogue, which is not contaminated by the logic and temptations of temporal power. He is a man of the poor, far away from the Curia. Fraternity and the desire to dialogue were his first concrete words. Perhaps nothing in the Church will be as it was before. The simple cross he wore on his white cassock lets us hope that a Church of the people will re-discover its capacity to dialogue with all men of good will and with Freemasonry, which, as the experience of Latin America teaches us, works for the good and progress of humanity!” So here is the heart of the matter: “dialogue with all men of good will,” which means an intensifying of ecumenism! Are you not aware, Your Excellency, that Freemasonry promotes, through Ecumenism, the universal religion of Lucifer, as well as the fact that the source and womb of Freemasonry is the hideous International Zionism?...

Freemasonry is “pagan cult worship, an adversary of the pure Orthodox Catholic Church.” That is to say, it is clearly an antichristian and pagan religion. The Masons are “Satan worshipers and luciferists, followers of the religion of Antichrist.”...

You, Your Excellency, have not ceased from the moment of your election to speak in glowing terms about all the religions of the world, and to call them to collaborate for “the good of mankind”...

It is obvious why you decided to lead the effort in uniting the religions of the world, believing that you can become their leader! The “Holy See” is leading the way in the creation of a one-world religion, supposedly for the good of the world. In essence, however, it will be for its devastation...

Ecumenism adopts and legitimizes all heresies as “churches,” and it insults the dogma of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church...

The Ecumenical Council is the highest criteria of ecclesiality. For us Orthodox the highest form of ecclesiastical government is the Ecumenical Council, not a man, a “Pope”. Here is our essential difference with Papism...

We, the Orthodox, desire union and pray unceasingly “for the unity of all (people)” – a unity in our Holy Church in truth. We do not pray for the unity of false churches who will not forsake their various heresies, of some “God-sent” unity in the diversity of false doctrines. You, the Papists, in essence, hinder this unity. We Orthodox are unifiers par excellence, whereas you, the Papists, are separators. If you do not repent here in this present life, you will repent in Hades, where, however, there “is no repentance”!...

There can exist no form of compromise between Orthodoxy and Papism, neither with its older nor its modern spirit, nor with its idolatry...

With respect,

+ Andrew of Dryinoupolis, Pogoniani and Konitsa

+ Seraphim of Piraeus and Faliro

(Letter to Francis. HOLY AUTOCEPHALOUS ORTHODOX CATHOLIC CHURCH OF GREECE. April 10, 2014. http://cdn.romfea.gr/images/stories/photos/2014/4/romfea1/spiti/Epistle%20to%20Pope%20Francis%20I.pdf viewed 04/20/2014)

Notice that they want Pope Francis to change and accept the Orthodox faith--just like the Orthodox prophecies call for. They also claim that the Church of Rome is not a valid church. Anti-Roman feelings run deep among many of the Orthodox. I edited the above done for space, but it contained many other charges against Pope Francis and his church. The signers basically take the stance that the Orthodox must oppose Francis and Rome.

In late 2016, many of the Georgian Orthodox shunned Pope Francis, complained of papism, and even called Francis an 'Arch-heretic" (see Pope Francis shunned and called ‘Arch-heretic’ in Georgia).

Back in 1997, Eastern Orthodox writer Peter Jackson warned about the papacy and antichrist (Jackson P. ORTHODOX LIFE., No. I, 1997., Brotherhood of Saint Job of Pochaev at Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, N.Y. pp. 18-22.  http://fr-d-serfes.org/orthodox/theotokos.htm viewed 05/04/09). Thus, both in the 20th and 21st centuries, Eastern Orthodox writers have considered that the papacy was/contained elements of antichrist (and there are items from earlier centuries that support that view as well).

Of course, there are many exceptions to this rejection of unity within the Orthodox communities. Notice something that happened decades ago according to the late Herbert W. Armstrong:

Now, by the way, let me interrupt right there and say the last time I was in Jerusalem, the Patriarch of the Eastern Church at Jerusalem came to see me in my hotel suite. And he gave me what he considered the highest prize he could give, which was the cross of Constantine — Constantine the Great — which dates back to 325 AD, 325 years after Christ. And Constantine is the one you know who called the Nicene Council, and who practically dictated a lot of the doctrines of the Catholic Church. Constantine was the ruler of the empire at Constantinople, and Constantinople was named after him. ...

And I was the 129th person to receive that award since 325 AD. So they consider it a very high honor because very few have ever received it. Anyway, I asked the Patriarch of the Eastern Church... He is the Patriarch at Jerusalem. He considers he's probably the highest man in the church, but I think generally the one at Athens is considered the highest. Nevertheless I asked him, "Do you think that there will be an Ecumenical movement so that the Eastern and the Roman Church will go together and be rejoined?" And the answer was, "We are praying for it." (Armstrong HW. United States of EUROPE IS COMING! Sermon, November 27, 1982)

Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, has encouraged Catholic-Orthodox ecumenical dialogue and has stated that to finalize this will take an Ecumenical Council or "synod":

Patriarch of Constantinople’s new encyclical defends Catholic-Orthodox dialogue

Istanbul, Turkey, Feb 20, 2010 / 06:14 pm (CNA).- Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople’s newest encyclical encourages dialogue between the Orthodox Church and other Christian churches and laments those who are “unacceptably fanatical” in challenging such dialogue…“They disseminate false rumors that union between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches is imminent, while they know well that the differences discussed in these theological dialogues remain numerous and require lengthy debate; moreover, union is not decided by theological commissions but by Church Synods,” Bartholomew wrote. (Patriarch of Constantinople’s new encyclical defends Catholic-Orthodox dialogue. February 20, 2010. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/patriarch_of_constantinoples_new_encyclical_defends_catholic-orthodox_dialogue/ viewed 11/22/11).

COGwriter has been one of the few non-Roman, non-Orthodox sites to warn against the coming unity for years.

Now I actually agree with the Orthodox Patriarch that the Orthodox will likely need to have a church synod for unity.  But what he did not mention is that Orthodox prophets have expected such a meeting to take place and result it unity. According to an Eastern Orthodox, Byzantine, prophet the final (the Orthodox recognize seven previous ones) ecumenical synod council satisfies what “heretics” want:

Saint Neilos the Myrrh-Gusher (died 1592): During that time the Eighth and last Ecumenical Synod will take place, which will satisfy the contentions of the heretics…(Tzima Otto, p. 111).

By satisfying “heretics”, clearly this council compromises and changes the religion, which will be called “Catholic.”  If heretics are truly heretics, should their complaints be satisfied?

It was announced that the Eastern Orthodox have called for such an Ecumenical Council in 2016 (Afanasieva D, Heneghan T. Orthodox Patriarchs urge peace in Ukraine, agree on council! (Ecumenical News, March 10, 2014. http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/orthodox-patriarchs-urge-peace-in-ukraine-agree-on-council-22801; see Orthodox agree to eighth ecumenical council: If Orthodox prophecy is correct on it, this council marks a major step towards the end!). We are getting closer to the time of the end--but I should add that they changed the location of the council in 2016 and are no longer referring to it as an ecumenical council.

Now there are other possible meetings/synods that could accomplish this goal of unity. Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew, for example, have called for a meeting in Nicea in 2025 to commemorate the 1700 year anniversary of Emperor Constantine's first Council of Nicea in 325 which helped change/define some of the doctrines and practices of the Roman and Orthodox Catholics in the fourth century (other councils did as well). Some details about the 325 and 2025 meetings are in the news post titled Ecumenical meeting in Nicea planned for 2025: What happened in 325 and what could happen in/by 2025?

Notice something that a Catholic monsignor priest, Charles Pope, wrote:

No pope, no council, no Synod, and no priest in any confessional has any right or capacity to set aside Divine Law. (Pope C. The Church Cannot Change Her Doctrine on Marriage and Divorce. Concerns for the Upcoming Synod. May 4, 2014. http://blog.adw.org/2014/05/the-church-cannot-change-her-doctrine-on-marriage-and-divorce-concerns-for-the-upcoming-synod/)

But the synod that the Orthodox have called for will require doctrinal compromise and will not fully embrace Divine Law.

The Bible warns about a future leader who “he shall think himself able to change times and laws” (Daniel 7:25, Douay-Rheims). The Catholic saint Jerome wrote that this leader was the King of the North (in his commentary on Daniel 11) and Antichrist (in his commentary on Daniel 7 as he, like many, confused the two):

". . .And he shall crush the saints of the Most High, and will suppose himself to be able to alter times and laws." The Antichrist will wage war against the saints and will overcome them; and he shall exalt himself to such a height of arrogance as to attempt changing the very laws of God and the sacred rites as well..." (Jerome. Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 7. Translated by Gleason L. Archer. (1958). http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm viewed 07/30/11)

(The Beast/King of the North is primarily a political-military leader who will persecute the saints, per Daniel 11:30-35, while the final Antichrist is primarily a religious leader per 1 John 4:1-3 who will support that Beast per Revelation 13:12.)

If an antipope convened/attended an ecumenical synod that satisfied heretics, would he not also be supportive of changing laws? Many Catholic prophecies warn about an antipope who will arise and who could be the final Antichrist (see the book 2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect for details).

One Catholic nun foretold of a time when some agreement would deceive many:

Jeanne le Royer (died 1798):  One day I heard a voice which said, ‘The new Constitution will appear to many other than what it really is.  They will bless it as a gift from heaven; whereas it is really a gift from {haydes} and permitted by God in His just wrath.  It will only be by its effects that people will be led to recognize the Dragon who wanted to destroy all and devour all (Dupont, p. 53).  

Whether this is a reference to some type of power agreement with the Beast (Revelation 17:12-13) or the ecumenical council (cf. Revelation 13:1-4), notice that it is expected to be satanic (Satan is the Dragon, per Revelation 12:9).

A Catholic prophecy shows that after its church is changed (reformed below), the Orthodox will come back:

Roger Bacon (died 1294): There shall arise a…priest to reform the Church.  The Greeks will return (to the Church)…there will be one fold, one shepherd (Culleton, The Prophets and Our Times, p. 149).

All (Catholic or otherwise) should be careful, compare their teachings with the Bible, pray to God, and not accept doctrines that are unbiblical for the sake of this coming ecumenical unity.

Pope Francis is quite ecumenical. Notice the following report about when he first became pontiff:

Unlike his predecessors, he doesn't sign his name "Pope Francis," ending his official correspondence simply "Francis."...

Even on Day One, Francis didn't acknowledge he was pope...And bishop of Rome is the title he has emphasized repeatedly ever since — not vicar of Christ, or any of his other official titles.

"I do think there is something about trying to reduce the awesomeness, the grandeur and majesty of the papacy," said John Allen Jr., Vatican columnist for the National Catholic Reporter...

In his March 20 audience with religious leaders, Francis sent an important signal about his view of the papacy and its relationship with other Christians. He addressed the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, as "my brother" — a fraternal nod to a church that split from Rome 1,000 years ago and has remained separated in part over disputes about the primacy of the pope.

To make that message abundantly clear, Francis' chair was on the ground — the same level as all the other religious leaders — and not on a raised platform. (Winfield N. Pope Francis seems reluctant to be pope, preferring title bishop of Rome in hint of priorities. Fox/AP, March 27, 2013. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/27/pope-francis-seems-reluctant-to-be-pope-preferring-title-bishop-rome-in-hint/#ixzz2OmmdsDae

This is the type of behavior I believe that many of the Orthodox wanted to see--but others see these moves as dangerous ploys. And while humility is a good thing, this may have other ramifications. Pope Francis has since taken other steps. Notice:

October 17, 2015

Pope Francis has called for a "healthy decentralization" of power in the Catholic Church, including a greater role for the laity, more decision-making authority for bishops' conferences and even changes in the papacy.

Frances made his comments Saturday during a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops, which meets occasionally and advises the pope on various issues.

Francis said it is "necessary and urgent to think about a conversion of the papacy," a possibility that was first addressed by the late Pope John Paul II in 1995. He did not explain what kind of changes he has in mind.  http://www.voanews.com/content/pope-francis-calls-for-decentralization-of-catholic-church/3011982.html

By indicating that the powers of the papacy need to be diminished and local bishops/leaders get more power/influence, this would seem to have been an announcement by Pope Francis to show how serious he is about addressing what seems to be the biggest issue in the type of ecumenical unity he wants.

Various parts of what he said will sound good some Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, and certain Protestants. I believe that this is an ecumenical move that should greatly concern Roman Catholics as this differs from the magisterium and other Catholic tradition. While the Eastern Orthodox accept that the 'see of Rome' has a certain primacy, they do not accept that this means it is to have supremacy over all the Greco-Roman churches.  Certain modern Protestant leaders seem to have a similar view. Now Pope Francis is seemingly proposing compromise to push past this.

What About Protestants?

In this article, there have been some references to Protestants and the ecumenical agenda.

Perhaps some more items should be considered.

Centuries ago, a Catholic nun predicted a time when some agreement would deceive many:

Jeanne le Royer (died 1798):  One day I heard a voice which said, ‘The new Constitution will appear to many other than what it really is.  They will bless it as a gift from heaven; whereas it is really a gift from {haydes} and permitted by God in His just wrath.  It will only be by its effects that people will be led to recognize the Dragon who wanted to destroy all and devour all (Dupont, p. 53).  

Whether this is a reference to some type of power agreement with the Beast (Revelation 17:12-13) or the ecumenical council (cf. Revelation 13:1-4), notice that it is expected to be satanic (Satan is the Dragon, per Revelation 12:9).

A Catholic prophecy shows that after its church is changed (reformed below), the Orthodox will come back:

Roger Bacon (died 1294): There shall arise a…priest to reform the Church.  The Greeks will return (to the Church)…there will be one fold, one shepherd (Culleton, The Prophets and Our Times, p. 149).

Catholics have long considered Protestantism as false and dangerous:

Priest P. Kramer (21st century): Pope St. Pius V teaches in his Catechism, the Roman Catechism — also known as the Catechism of the Council of Trent — that all of the Protestant religions are false religions, they’re inspired by the devil; and therefore their fruits are evil…The Protestant religions, as such, are inspired by the devil, as Pope St. Pius V teaches in his catechism. (Kramer P. The Imminent Chastisement for Not Fulfilling Our Lady’s Request. An edited transcript of a speech given at the Ambassadors of Jesus and Mary Seminar in Glendale, California, September 24, 2004. THE FATIMA CRUSADER Issue 80, Summer 2005, pp. 32-45 http://www.fatimacrusader.com/cr80/cr80pg32.asp viewed 4/15/08 )

Frederick William Faber (died 1863): Protestantism {is} an anticipation of Antichrist… All its sects unite against the Church. (Connor, p. 88)

Despite the fact that Roman Catholics believe that Protestant religious are inspired by the devil, Pope Francis is dialoguing with them. Yet, even he has warned about what he is doing:

February 14, 2016

Don’t Dialogue With Devil

Off the cuff, the Pope said, “let us be clear about this, we cannot dialogue with the devil, we cannot do this because he will always win.”

“Only the power of Gods’ word can overcome him,” Francis said, https://zenit.org/articles/pope-warns-against-3-temptations-which-shatter-gods-plans-for-us/

Both Roman Catholics and Protestants should heed God's word, instead of dialoguing in ways that Satan will, for a time, win.

Pope Pius V’s late 16th century Catechism says only the Catholic church is faithful and has salvation, with others (like Protestants) part of the “false Church”:

The third mark of the Church is that she is Catholic…To this Church, “built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets”, belong all the faithful who have existed from Adam to the present day, or who shall exist…She is, also, called universal, because all who desire eternal salvation must cling to and embrace her, like those who entered the ark, to escape perishing in the flood…This, therefore, is to be taught as a most reliable criterion, by which to distinguish the true from a false Church…

The true Church is also to be recognised from her origin, which can be traced back under the law of grace to the Apostles; for her doctrines are neither novel nor of recent origin, but were delivered, of old, by the Apostles, and disseminated throughout the world. Hence, no one can, for a moment, doubt that the impious opinions which heresy invents, opposed, as they are, to the doctrines taught by the Church from the days of the Apostles to the present time, are very different from the faith of the true Church…But as this one Church, because governed by the Holy Ghost, cannot err in faith or morals, it necessarily follows, that all other societies arrogating to themselves the name of Church, because guided by the spirit of darkness, are sunk in the most pernicious errors both doctrinal and moral. (The Catechism of the Council of Trent: published by command of Pope Pius the fifth , pp. 77-78)

Related to that last paragraph above, it needs to be understood that by making those claims, Pope Pius V seems to be saying that the true Church should not have changed the doctrines of the Apostles.  And while that is true of the most faithful of the Church of God, it cannot be said of the Church of Rome (see Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Continuing Church of God?) or the Protestants (see Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differ from most Protestants).

All (Church of God, Catholic, Protestant, or otherwise) should be careful, compare their teachings with the Bible, pray to God, and not accept doctrines that are unbiblical for the sake of this coming ecumenical unity.

An Antipope Is Prophesied to Implement a New Order Called "Catholicism"

Pope Francis made a statement to appeal to atheists:

May 24, 2013

Pope Francis has sparked a religious debate with comments made earlier this week confirming atheists can indeed go to heaven.

Christian teaching generally holds that belief in Jesus, and not good deeds, grants eternal life.

But the pope, in a morning Mass on Wednesday, suggested that belief and faith weren’t the biggest factors. He said, CNN reported: “The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ — all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone. ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist.’ But do good: We will meet one another there.” http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/24/pope-francis-suggests-atheists-good-deeds-gets-the/#ixzz2UFEV7VRj

Pope Francis' statement regarding atheists is against what I have long understood to be the teachings of the Church of Rome.

Furthermore, it may be of interest to note that other Catholic writings suggest that it is an antipope who is involved in the imposition of a changed church:

Oba Prophecy: It will come when the Church authorities issue directives to support a new cult, when priests are forbidden to celebrate in any other, when the highest positions in the Church are given to perjurers and hypocrites, when only the renegades are admitted to occupy those positions.

Nun Anna-Katarina Emmerick (19th century): I saw again a new and odd-looking Church which they were trying to build. There was nothing holy about it...

Yves Dupont (writer interpreting A. Emmerick above), They wanted to make a new Church, a Church of human manufacture, but God had other designs...The Holy Father shall have to leave Rome, and he shall die a cruel death. An anti-pope shall be set up in Rome. (Dupont, pp. 115,116)

Jeanne le Royer (died 1978): I see that when the Second Coming of Christ approaches a bad priest will do much harm to the Church. (Culligan, E. The Last World War and the End of Time. The book was blessed by Pope Paul VI, 1966. TAN Books, Rockford (IL), p. 128)

Yves Dupont (reader and reporter of Catholic prophecies): prophecies are quite explicit about the election of an anti-pope...Many prophecies predict an anti-pope and a schism. (Dupont, pp. 34,60-61)

Blessed Joachim (died 1202): Towards the end of the world Antichrist will overthrow the Pope and usurp his See. (Connor, Edward. Prophecy for Today. Imprimatur + A.J. Willinger, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno; Reprint: Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford (IL), 1984, p. 76)

Bl. Anna-Maria Taigi (19th century): After the three days of darkness…a new Pope...Christianity, then, will spread throughout the world…At the end, he will have the gift of miracles, and his name shall be praised over the whole earth. (Dupont, p.45)

Ted and Maureen Flynn (20th century): Catholic prophecy warns us of severe problems facing the papacy in these end times…chaos will be within our midst.  An Antipope will seize papal authority…It will be those who hold fast to the truths of the faith who will be labeled as the perpetrators of this horrible schism, according to some visionaries. (Flynn Ted and Maureen. The Thunder of Justice. MaxKol Communications, Inc. Sterling (VA), 1993, p. 255)

C. Van Den Biesen (20th century): The beast from the land has two horns like a ram. Its power lies in its art of deceiving by means of tokens and miracles. Throughout the remainder of the book it is called the false prophet.  Its office is to assist the beast from the sea, and to induce men to adore its image. (Van Den Biesen C. Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler. Apocalypse. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I. Published 1907. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York)

Merlin (7th century): There will come a German Anti-Pope. Italy and Germany will be sorely troubled. (Culleton, R. Gerald.  The Prophets and Our Times. Nihil Obstat: L. Arvin.  Imprimatur: Philip G. Scher, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno, November 15, 1941.  Reprint 1974, TAN Books, Rockford (IL), p. 132)

St. Hildegard (died 1179): But now you see her from the waist down; for you see her in her full dignity as the Church...And from her waist to the place that denotes the female, she has various scaly blemishes... … And thus in the place where the female is recognized is a black and monstrous head. For the son of perdition will come raging with the arts he first used to seduce...causing people to deny God and tainting their minds and tearing the Church with the greed of rapine. (Hildegard of Bingen. Scivias. Paulist Press, Mahwah (NJ), pp. 497,498)

Comment by Barbara Newman (1998): But as early as Scivias, Hildegard shockingly portrayed Ecclesia {the Catholic Church} as giving birth to Antichrist himself...Some other early works of Hildegard's, written before 1159, show a similar sourness of tone with respect to the institutional church. (Newman, Barbara. Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen and Her World. Published by University of California Press, 1998, p. 83)

Abbott Joachim (died 1202): A man of remarkable sanctity will be his successor in the Pontifical chair. Through him God will work so many prodigies that all men shall revere him. (Connor, pp. 31-32)

Saint Zenobius (died 285): Antichrist will work a thousand prodigies on earth. (Connor, p. 73)

St. Hildegard (died 1179): When the great ruler exterminates the Turks almost entirely, one of the remaining Mohammedans will be converted…will kill the pope before he is crowned, through jealousy, he wishing to be pope himself; then when the other cardinals elect the next pope this cardinal will proclaim himself Anti-Pope, and two thirds of the Christians will go with him. He, also well as Antichrist, are descendants of Dan. (Culleton, The Reign of Antichrist, p. 128)

Pope Gregory the Great (died 604): In those days, near the end, hardly a Bishop, but an army of priests and two-thirds of the Christians will join the Schism. (Culleton, R. Gerald. The Reign of Antichrist, Reprint TAN Books, Rockford, IL, 1974, p. 122)

Catechism of the Catholic Church (20th century): Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a trial that will shake the faith of many believers. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #675, Imprimatur Potest +Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Doubleday, NY 1995, pp. 193-194)

St. Francis of Assisi (died 1226): There will be an uncanonically elected pope who will cause a great Schism, there will be divers thoughts preached which will cause many, even those in the different orders to doubt, yea even agree with the heretics, which will cause my Order to divide. (Culleton, R. Gerald. The Reign of Antichrist, p. 130)

Priest Gaudentius Rossi (19th century): 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, Gaudentius. The Christian Trumpet: Or, Previsions and Predictions about Impending General Calamities, the Universal Triumph of the Church, the Coming of the Anti-Christ, the Last Judgment, and the End of the World; Divided Into Three Parts, 4th edition. Patrick Donahoe, 1875. Original from Oxford University. Digitized Sep 1, 2006, p. 203)

Priest O’Connor (20th century?): This final false prophet will be a bishop of the church and will lead all religions into becoming one. (The False Prophet.  Living in the Final Generation. http://www.geocities.com/rebornempowered/ApparitionsofMary.htm 10/12/07)

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" (I 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. (Kramer H., p. 318,320-323)

Thus, while some Catholic prophecies praise a new religious order, many others indicate that a new type of “Catholicism” will be false to that religion.  This also seems to be consistent with an 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). (Gerasimos, Bishop.  At the End of Time: The Eschatological Expectations of the Church.  Holy Cross Orthodox Press. October 5, 2004, pp. 28-29)

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.  

A Spanish-influenced Mayan writing seems to warn against the rise of an Archbishop, who could possibly be considered as an antipope:

Chilam Balam (16th century): There is no reason or necessity for you to submit to the Archbishop. When he comes, you go and hide yourselves in the forest. If you surrender yourselves, you shall follow Christ, when he shall come. (José Hoíl J, Roys R. The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel. Roys Publisher, 1933. Reprint Forgotten Books, 1967, p. 77)

The above also warns that the faithful will need to hide and follow Christ and not the Archbishop.

According to The Catholic Almanac, there have been thirty-seven “antipopes” (The Catholic Almanac.  By Franciscans: Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, Washington (D.C.). Holy Name College, St. Anthony's Guild, Paterson, N.J., 1952, p. 217). Thus, contrary to the views of many, it certainly makes sense that there could be one more, especially considering that the Malachy prophecies suggest the next pope is the last pope.

Notice the following two reports from another priest:

Priest Paul Kramer (21st 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. (Kramer P. The Imminent Chastisement for Not Fulfilling Our Lady’s Request. An edited transcript of a speech given at the Ambassadors of Jesus and Mary Seminar in Glendale, California, September 24, 2004.THE FATIMA CRUSADER Issue 80, Summer 2005, pp. 32-45 http://www.fatimacrusader.com/cr80/cr80pg32.asp viewed 4/15/08)

Priest Paul Kramer (21st century):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. They will be united together under the universality of the Masonic umbrella. In that motley ecumenical union will be the established religion of the so-called civilized world. This is how we will get into the time of great persecution such as the world has never seen. (Priest Kramer. As cited by Mario Derksen's article The Blind Leading the Blind Memo to Chris Ferrara, Father Nicholas Gruner and Father Paul Kramer: Please, please take off the blindfolds! in TRADITIONAL INSIGHTS October 7, 2005 Volume 16, no. 250; http://www.dailycatholic.org/issue/05Oct/oct7mdi.htm 10/10/07)

Some Orthodox look forward to this, but also expect an antipope near then:

Helen Tzima Otto (20th century): We have been told time and time again through the prophets that the Great Monarch and Papa Angelorum…will convene the 8th Ecumenical Council, which will reunify all Christians…The Emperor will spend three years waging wars against the non-Christian nations…{later will be} the end time schism of the Roman Catholic Church of the End Times and the rise of an antipope. (Tzima Otto, pp. xxv, 103, 122)

Apparently the “non-Christian nations” will be those that do not desire to be part of the ecumenical church that is to form.

Notice information from a Roman priest:

Father O'Connor quotes from Holy Scripture, the stunning prophecies of St. Vincent Ferrer, Pope St. Pius X, St. Francis of Assisi, St. John Eudes, Sr. Lucy of Fatima, Pope Pius XII and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. Father explains how God will and is punishing the world for sin, and that the Fathers of the Church all wrote that the False Prophet would be a Catholic Bishop who will become an invalid anti-pope while the real Pope dies a cruel death in exile. (REIGN OF THE FALSE PROPHET.  Catholic Treasures. Audio ITEM #20104.  http://www.catholictreasures.com/cartdescrip/20104.html 03/02/09)

Another priest wrote:

Priest E. Sylvester Berry (20th century) As indicated by the resemblance to a lamb, the prophet will probably set himself up in Rome as a sort of antipope during the vacancy of the papal throne . . .(Berry E.S. The Apocalypse of St. John. First published 1921. http://journals.aol.com/langosh5/Father_E_Sylvester_Berry/ 10/12/07)

Thus, some Catholic writings suggest that this “new order” will result in the world becoming nominally Catholic.  That is consistent with prophecies that indicate the entire world will tend to agree on worship (cf. Revelation 13:8).  And it seems to have a European base.

Notice also the following:

Cardinal J.H. Newman (19th century): Now let us recur to the ancient Fathers, and see whether their further anticipations do not run parallel to the events which have since happened.  Antichrist, as they considered, will come out of the Roman Empire just upon its destruction;—that is, the Roman Empire will in its last days divide itself into ten parts, and the Enemy will come up suddenly out of it upon these ten, and subdue three of them, or all of them perhaps... (Newman JH. The Patristical Idea of Antichrist, Lecture II. Newman Reader — Works of John Henry Newman. Copyright © 2004 by The National Institute for Newman Studies)

The above writing suggests that while there will be a resurrected Roman Empire, at first it will seem fine, but then it will change.  This appears to be a prophecy about what will happen to the European Union in the future and seems to be consistent with Isaiah 10:5-11 where a power that does not mean to become militaristic does so.

Since the King of the North is going to nominally claim to be Catholic, having a newly claimed Catholic order would be the most logical “foreign god,” as many may not see what is happening to that Church. He will claim peace (Daniel 11:24), but bring war (Daniel 11:39-44).

Jesus and the Apostle Paul

While peace is a fine objective, the Bible warns that many do not know the way of peace:

8 The way of peace they have not known,
And there is no justice in their ways;
They have made themselves crooked paths;
Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. (Isaiah 59:8)

All religions are NOT equal before God and there is a true Christian church (see also Where is the True Christian Church Today?). The interfaith movement does not clearly realize this and is promoting crooked paths.

Jesus did NOT come to bring interfaith unity. Notice what He said:

34 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; 36 and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.' 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 10:34-39)

Religious leaders who profess Christ and the interfaith and ecumenical agendas clearly are overlooking what Jesus taught. He taught His people should be willing to stand alone, even among family members. Consider also what the Apostle Paul was inspired to write:

14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

"I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people."

17 Therefore

"Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you. 18 'I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty." (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

Christians are to be separate from paganism. Those who accept the true God as their Father must realize that. Isaiah wrote:

11 Depart! Depart! Go out from there,
Touch no unclean thing;
Go out from the midst of her,
Be clean,
You who bear the vessels of the Lord. (Isaiah 52:11)

To depart means to separate. Notice that Isaiah's sentiments here are captured in the New Testament in Paul's writing (2 Corinthians 6:17) and the Book of Revelation (18:2-4).

Do Not Be Deceived By Wealth

The Bible warns that there will be great wealth associated with the end time Babylon:

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." 4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. (Revelation 18:2-5)

So, the Bible warns that "Babylon the great" is bad, but will bring great wealth. The Beast of Revelation 13 is a leader of Babylon and is also called the King of the North in Bible prophecy.

When the final contest between the King of the North vs. the King of the South occurs, the King of the South will lose:

40 "At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. 41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.

Notice that the King of the North amasses gold. This is consistent with three Orthodox prophecies that are supposed to be about the "Great Monarch":

Emperor Leo the Philosopher (c. early 10th century): You will amass the gold of the nations...And you will be the leader of the surrounding powers...and those that are near will prostate themselves before your feet (Tzima Otto, H. The Great Monarch and WWIII in Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Scriptural Prophecies. The Verenika Press, Rock Hill (SC), 2000, pp. 76-77).

To Emperor Manuel II (d. 1425): ...upon the command of the the good Emperor they will go and discover treasures of gold and silver and all this will be offered as a gift to the pious ones; later on more and more valuable treasures will be found and the Emperor will do with those treasures likewise (ibid, p. 102).

Saint Andrew Fool-for-Christ (c. 4th century):  God will reveal to this king all the gold wherever it happen to lay concealed from view. And he will re-distribute it in a liberal manner to all his land. Due to the plentiness of wealth, the ruling class will live like kings, and the poor like the ruling class (ibid, p. 112).

Roman Catholics may wish to consider that those last three predictions sound a lot like a prophecy from three of their saints about Antichrist:

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 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 Jerome (died 420): Antichrist...will gain support with many gifts and money. He will sell himself to the devil...(Connor, p. 74).

Notice the similarities between the acquisitions from Orthodox and Roman sources. The final Antichrist, or his predecessor, may well distribute vast amounts of wealth, which will increase followers to his professed faith. The final Beast will also divide lands (Daniel 11:39). Also, remember that according to the Bible, one accumulating all that wealth is not good (Daniel 11:36-45), Satan the dragon is with the Beast and the False Prophet (Revelation 16:13), and that sorceries were involved with the end time Babylonian power (Revelation 18:23; Isaiah 47:9; Nahum 3:4).

The answer should be obvious to all who wish to believe the God of the Bible. Furthermore, statements by Pope Francis that the Church of Rome should be poor and for the poor, suggest that he may very well use wealth to attract followers. And both biblical and private prophecy warn against this.

Catholics who compromise with the Orthodox will likely be taken in by this lure of wealth. This is something that all (Catholics and Orthodox) need to ponder.

The Apparitions

Apparitions could be part of the ecumenical false religion that many will adopt.

Even among the Orthodox there is a concern that apparitions falsely claiming to be Mary, the Mother of Jesus will deceive Catholics, Orthodox, and even Muslims to accept a false unity that the powers of Antichrist will support. Notice:

Peter Jackson (20th century): To which Mary are Muslims and Protestants being drawn?... Rome began to see her more and more as a "goddess," a fourth Hypostasis of the Trinity…Today, as heterodox Christians become more and more ecumenist and work toward creating a "One World Church," the search has begun for a Mary of universal recognition, one who will appeal not only to those who bear the name Christian, but apparently to Muslims and others as well, just as attempts are likewise being made to identify the "new Christ" with the Muslim concept of their coming Mahdi and with the Messiah still awaited by the Jews. This, of course, will be no Christ at all but the antichrist (Jackson P. ORTHODOX LIFE., No. I, 1997., Brotherhood of Saint Job of Pochaev at Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, N.Y. pp. 18-22.  http://fr-d-serfes.org/orthodox/theotokos.htm viewed 05/04/09).

Notice something from a book published in 2012 called Fatima Shock!:

Bishop Kennedy of the Celtic Orthodox Church wrote:

The great deceiver of Fatima promises salvation to those who embrace devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary… We can be very certain that God did not send Mary to earth to change God's eternal plan of salvation. It is just this kind of deceit that leads to other false statements about Mary; Mediatrix of all graces etc. The devil's deceit is felt far and wide within the Church as is evidenced in the number of well meaning but deceived souls proclaiming Mary is Mediatrix of all graces. How would have such a statement sounded to the Apostles? This salvation we enjoy is from God in Christ; “The man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as ransom for all". (1 Timothy 2:1, 3-6 NAB)… We should STOP THE DEVIL in his tracks and proclaim the vision of Fatima to be a fraud, a work of the devil and an abomination to God, Mary and to the Church.

Yet, many who believe that she saw Mary of the Bible in Fatima seem to overlook the fact that Lúcia continually promoted positions contrary to the Bible and the early church. Thiel B. Fatima Shock! Nazarene Books, Arroyo Grande, 2012)

Pope Francis continues to try to turn people to his version of Mary (see Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy?) and this will sadly, also impact the Eastern Orthodox as well as Roman Catholics.

Just because some apparition claims to be Mary, the Mother of Jesus this does not mean it is so. There have been so many false claims rising up in the 21st century that then Pope Benedict XVI decided he needed to put together guidelines to root out those he suspects are demonic:

Pope orders bishops to root out false claims of visions

The Pope has ordered thorough investigations to be carried out into people who claim they have seen visions of the Virgin Mary. Telegraph, London - Jan 13, 2009

The Pope plans to publish criteria to help his bishops distinguish between true and false claims of visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, messages, stigmata, weeping and bleeding statues and Eucharistic miracles.

He is hoping to cut down on an explosion in the number of bogus heavenly apparitions with new guidelines to help his bishops to root out frauds.

Benedict XVI plans to publish criteria to help them to distinguish between true and false claims of visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, messages, stigmata, weeping and bleeding statues and Eucharistic miracles.

In some cases exorcists will be used to determine if a credible apparition is of divine origin or whether it is demonic. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/4223793/Pope-orders-bishops-to-root-out-false-claims-of-visions.html)

Now, that is a good step. But what if errors are made various demonic apparitions are accepted? I strongly believe that this will occur and to such a degree as to get people to accept the false prophet (the antipope/final Antichrist) and the Beast that are warned against in the Bible as I believe they will be endorsed by false apparitions (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:9).

Yet, Pope Francis seems to have taken a turn to more push 'Mary' (Pope Francis Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy?).

The Bible is clear that nearly all will fall for this false prophet and believe signs and wonders above the truth of God:

22 For there will rise up false Christs and false prophets, and they shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce (if it were possible) even the elect. 23 Take you heed therefore; behold I have foretold you all things. (Mark 13:22-23, Douay-Rheims)

24 For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. 25 Behold I have told it to you, beforehand. (Matthew 24:24-25, Douay-Rheims)

7 For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then that wicked one shall be revealed whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth; and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, him, 9 Whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders, 10 And in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying: 11 That all may be judged who have not believed the truth, but have consented to iniquity. (2 Thessalonians 2:7-11, Douay-Rheims)

Do you really have the "love of the truth"?

If you want a deeper understanding of these apparition/Marian matters than can be covered in short articles, you should read the book Fatima Shock! Fatima Shock! provides concerned Christians enough Catholic-documented facts needed to effectively counter every false Marian argument.

Some Warnings that Americans and British-Descended Peoples May Be Unaware Of

There are various private Catholic prophecies that are looking forward to the Great Monarch (who we in the Philadelphia remnant of the Church of God would consider could be the King of the North), who they tend to teach is to arise after civil unrest in parts of Europe. This unrest may simply be internal, or perhaps due to immigrant issues arising from the rising Islamic populations in much of the EU. The European "Great Monarch" is expected to resolve matters first within Europe, then the fate of the Anglo-descended nations, and then the fate of much of the Islamic world.

Here are some Catholic prophecies related to this Great Monarch (note: it is possible that the "capital of the world" below being referred to is Washington D.C.--hence the United States of America may be discussed; also note that England was not known by that name in the 500s, hence the prophecy that mentions it would have used a different term in its original language that the Catholic translator apparently has concluded is modern England or those who are/speak English):

Sister Marianne Gaultier (18th century): "...When all shall appear lost, all will be saved...It is then that the Prince shall reign, whom people did not esteem before, but whom they shall then seek. The triumph of religion shall be so great that no one has ever seen the equal (Dupont, p. 75).

Father Laurence Ricci, S.J. (died 1775): ... a valiant duke will arise from the ancient German house which was humiliated by the French monarch. This great ruler will restore stolen Church property. Protestantism will cease... This duke will be the most powerful monarch on earth. At a gathering of men noted for piety and wisdom he will, with the aid of the Pope, introduce new rules, and ban the spirit of confusion. Everywhere there will be one fold and one shepherd." (Connor p.37)

Bernhardt Rembordt (18th century). "Cologne will be the site of a terrible battle...At that time France will be divided. The German Empire will choose a simple man as the Emperor, who will rule for a short time. His successor will be the man for whom the world has longed. He will be called a "Roman Emperor," and he will give peace to the world. A good and happy era will follow. God will be praised on earth, and war will be no more." (Dupont, pp.34-35)

Werdin d' Otrante (13th century): "The Great Monarch and the Great Pope will precede Antichrist...All the sects will vanish. The capital of the world will fall...The Great Monarch will come and restore peace and the Pope will share in the victory." (Connor, p. 33).

Saint Cataldus of Tarentino (c. 500): "The Great Monarch will be in war till he is forty years of age....he will assemble great armies and expel tyrants from his empire. He will conquer England and other island empires" (Connor, p.30).

Merlin (7th century): After destruction of England...shall come a dreadful man...he shall set England on the right way and put out all heresies (Culleton, p. 132).

St. Malachy (12th century): ... the English in turn must suffer severe chastisement. Ireland, however, will be instrumental in bringing back the English to the unity of Faith." (Dupont, Yves. Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement. TAN Books, Rockford (IL), 1973, p.15)

Ancient Irish source: England will again injure the Irish...This will be a sign for the frightful punishment of England...England suffers the same degradation as she meted out to her neighbor, and for the same length of time. Not the smallest fraction of time in this long period shall be remitted...Never shall world power be hers again...France restores order in England (Culleton, pp. 234,235).

St. Francis of Paola (Born in Italy, 15th century). "By the grace of the Almighty, the Great Monarch will annihilate heretics and unbelievers. He will have a great army, and angels will fight at his side. He will be like the sun among the stars. His influence will spread over the whole earth. All in all, there will be on earth twelve Kings, one Emperor, one Pope and a few Princes. They will all lead holy lives." (Dupont, p.38)

Saint Edward (d. 1066) “The extreme corruption and wickedness of the English nation has provoked the just anger of God.  When malice shall have reached the fullness of its measure, God will, in His wrath, send to the English people wicked spirits, who will punish and afflict them with great severity…” (Culleton, p. 137).

Mother Shipton (d. 1551) “The time will come when England shall tremble and quake…London shall be destroyed forever after . . . and then York shall be London and the Kingdom governed by three Lords appointed by a Royal Great monarch…who will set England right and drive out heresy (Culleton, p. 163).

Priest Nectou (d. 1772): ...when England shall begin to wane in power, the destruction of Paris shall be at hand. This shall be a sign. England shall, in her turn, suffer a more frightful revolution than that of France (Culleton, p. 176).

St. Senanus (d. 560): They (English) themselves will betray each other: in consequence their sovereignty will be broken...One monarch will rule in Ireland over the English (Culleton, R. Gerald.  The Prophets and Our Times. Nihil Obstat: L. Arvin.  Imprimatur: Philip G. Scher, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno, November 15, 1941.  Reprint 1974, TAN Books, Rockford (IL), p. 128).

Notice also the following (bolding in the original):

Our blessed Mother through Father Gobbi of the Marion Movement…provided several messages…

On November 15, 1990: Mary spoke about the great trial coming to the United States and for all humanity.  The Blessed Mother specifically mentions the United States will know the hour of weakness and of poverty as well as “the hour of suffering and defeat”.  The thunder of God’s justice will have arrived:

..."...Sins of impurity have become ever more widespread, and immorality has spread like a sea which has submerged all things. Homosexuality, a sin of impurity which is against nature, has been justified; recourse to the means of preventing life have become commonplace, while abortions,--these killings of innocent children--have spread and are performed in all areas of your homeland. The moment of divine justice and of great mercy has now arrived. You will know the hour of weakness and poverty; the hour of suffering and defeat; the purifying hour of the great chastisement..." America will know poverty and defeat! Those are strong statements made by the Virgin herself. Never before have we known something like this on a national scale (Flynn, pp. 341,342).

Since I do not believe that Jesus’ mother Mary actually said the above (see Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions), perhaps I should add that even the demons know that the Bible condemns homosexuality and abortion, as well as the fact that the USA is prophesied to be destroyed.

But I would like to emphasize for American and British Catholics that there are many private "Catholic" prophecies that tell of the rise of a militaristic leader who, along with a pope (an antipope) will change the Catholic religion and then destroy the American and British-descended peoples.

This, sadly, is where the ecumenical discussions of the past couple of decade are leading to.

Babylonian Unity is Denounced--True Unity Does Not Happen Until After Jesus Returns

While many think that ecumenical unity is a good thing, the Bible warns about an end time unity involving Babylon.

On May 27, 2012, then Pope Benedict XVI specifically warned that the world was becoming Babel (Babylon) and mentioned the Tower of Babel (http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1202209.htm). Yet, it should be realized that there are Roman and Byzantine Catholic prophecies that look forward to Babylon being re-established.

Notice:

Monk Leontios (died 543): Rejoice, oh most unhappy one, oh New Babylon!...You, who are the New Babylon rejoice now on behalf of Zion! New Babylon, dance, bounce and leap greatly, make known even those in Haydes what a Grace you have received. Because that peace which was yours to enjoy in times past, and which God has deprived you of in course of battles, receive it once more from the hand of an Angel...oh, the City of Seven Hills the dominion will be yours. (Tzima Otto, pp. 82-83)

Abbott Joachim (died 1202)...A remarkable Pope will be seated on the pontifical throne, under special protection of the angels. Holy and full of gentleness, he shall undo all wrong, 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...This holy Pope shall be both pastor and reformer. 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. Rome, weakened in temporal power, shall forever preserve her spiritual dominion, and shall enjoy great peace…At the beginning, in order to bring these happy results, having need of a powerful assistance, this holy Pontiff will ask the cooperation of the generous monarch of France (Great Monarch). (Connor, pp. 31-32)

Despite the fact that the last Pope seemed to warn against certain aspects of Babylon, Europe is trying to become the end time Babylon and the current Pope Francis seems to truly support the construction of a final Babylon.

Notice some news items related to Pentecost in 2014:

June 8, 2014

Pope Francis and the two presidents sat at the corner of the triangle where the two hedges met.

Along the hedge to their left sat what the Vatican described as “political” members of the Israeli and Palestinian delegations, including both nations’ ambassadors to the Holy See; Christian religious leaders, including Patriarch Bartholomew, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and Palestinian Lutheran Bishop Monib Younan; and musicians who performed between prayers during the ceremony.

Along the other hedge sat various Muslim, Jewish and Druze religious figures, including Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Omar Abboud, long-standing friends of the Pope from Buenos Aires and leaders respectively in their city’s Jewish and Muslim communities, who accompanied Pope Francis during his visit to the Holy Land.

Members of the Palestinian and Israeli delegations and guests of Pope Francis read a selection of Jewish, Christian and Muslim prayers, in order of their religions’ historical precedence. Each set of prayers praised God for creation, begged forgiveness of sins and asked for peace in the Holy Land.

Patriarch Bartholomew read in English from the Book of Isaiah: “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent – its food shall be dust.”  http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2014/06/08/pope-francis-tells-presidents-only-god-can-bring-peace-to-holy-land/

Historic First Ever Islamic Prayers At Vatican Signals Start Of One World Religion ….

If Pope Francis continues on this path, and there is no reason why he wouldn’t, it is highly likely that he is the False Prophet of Revelation.  …

A 7 Year Peace Treaty is about to be crafted and signed by all parties concerned. This is the goal that Pope Francis is working towards. When will it happen? No one can say. But this is as close to that peace treaty as we have ever been in the 2,000 years since the prophecies were first given. http://beforeitsnews.com/global-unrest/2014/06/historic-first-ever-islamic-prayers-at-vatican-signals-start-of-one-world-religion-2459430.html

BERLIN – Christians, Muslims and Jews, all praying under the same roof — that’s the groundbreaking project of a pastor, a rabbi and an imam in Berlin.

Still a sand-strewn vacant construction site, St Peter’s Square in the center of the German capital will — God willing — by 2018 host a building that’s so unusual it doesn’t have an official term.

Not a church, nor a synagogue, or a mosque as such, but a bit of all three, the center known currently as a “House of Prayer and Learning” will be unlike any other religious venue in the world, its initiators say.

The aim of the €44-million ($60-million) project, whose fundraising kicked off Tuesday but has been several years in the making, is not only to show the importance of multi-faith dialogue but to mirror multi-cultural Berlin. Berlin prayer house unites Jews, Christians, Muslims | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/berlin-prayer-house-unites-jews-christians-muslims/#ixzz34XjxSBvw

This will not be a truly holy alliance (see also Will the Interfaith Movement Lead to Peace or Sudden Destruction?). 

Jesus DID NOT come so that the world would be united in this age. Notice what Jesus said:

51 'Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. (Luke 12:51, NJB).

Scripture warns against a coming ecumenical unity which it teaches will be successful:

4 They prostrated themselves in front of the dragon because he had given the beast his authority; and they prostrated themselves in front of the beast, saying, 'Who can compare with the beast? Who can fight against it?' 5 The beast was allowed to mouth its boasts and blasphemies and to be active for forty-two months; 6 and it mouthed its blasphemies against God, against his name, his heavenly Tent and all those who are sheltered there. 7 It was allowed to make war against the saints and conquer them, and given power over every race, people, language and nation; 8 and all people of the world will worship it, that is, everybody whose name has not been written down since the foundation of the world in the sacrificial Lamb's book of life. 9 Let anyone who can hear, listen: 10 Those for captivity to captivity; those for death by the sword to death by the sword. This is why the saints must have perseverance and faith. (Revelation 13:4-10, NJB)

The Bible warns against an end time Babylon unity (note: the New Jerusalem Bible, a Catholic-approved translation, is shown):

1 One of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came to speak to me, and said, 'Come here and I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute who is enthroned beside abundant waters, 2 with whom all the kings of the earth have prostituted themselves, and who has made all the population of the world drunk with the wine of her adultery.' 3 He took me in spirit to a desert, and there I saw a woman riding a scarlet beast which had seven heads and ten horns and had blasphemous titles written all over it. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and glittered with gold and jewels and pearls, and she was holding a gold winecup filled with the disgusting filth of her prostitution; 5 on her forehead was written a name, a cryptic name: 'Babylon the Great, the mother of all the prostitutes and all the filthy practices on the earth.' 6 I saw that she was drunk, drunk with the blood of the saints, and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus; and when I saw her, I was completely mystified. (Revelation 17:1-6, NJB)

9 'This calls for shrewdness. The seven heads are the seven hills, on which the woman is sitting...18 The woman you saw is the great city which has authority over all the rulers on earth.' (Revelation 17:9,18, NJB)

1 After this, I saw another angel come down from heaven, with great authority given to him; the earth shone with his glory. 2 At the top of his voice he shouted, 'Babylon has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, and has become the haunt of devils and a lodging for every foul spirit and dirty, loathsome bird. 3 All the nations have drunk deep of the wine of her prostitution; every king on the earth has prostituted himself with her, and every merchant grown rich through her debauchery.' 4 Another voice spoke from heaven; I heard it say, 'Come out, my people, away from her, so that you do not share in her crimes and have the same plagues to bear. 5 Her sins have reached up to the sky, and God has her crimes in mind: treat her as she has treated others. 6 She must be paid double the amount she exacted. She is to have a doubly strong cup of her own mixture. 7 Every one of her pomps and orgies is to be matched by a torture or an agony. I am enthroned as queen, she thinks; I am no widow and will never know bereavement. 8 For that, in one day, the plagues will fall on her: disease and mourning and famine. She will be burned to the ground. The Lord God who has condemned her is mighty.' 9 'There will be mourning and weeping for her by the kings of the earth who have prostituted themselves with her and held orgies with her. They see the smoke as she burns, (Revelation 18:1-9, NJB)

In Zechariah, the Bible warns against a coming Babylon and shows that proper unity will not happen until after Jesus returns:

10 Look out! Look out! Flee from the land of the north -- Yahweh declares- for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven -- Yahweh declares. 11 Look out! Make your escape, Zion, now living with the daughter of Babylon!

12 For Yahweh Sabaoth says this, since the Glory commissioned me, about the nations who plundered you, 'Whoever touches you touches the apple of my eye. 13 Now look, I shall wave my hand over them and they will be plundered by those whom they have enslaved.' Then you will know that Yahweh Sabaoth has sent me! 14 Sing, rejoice, daughter of Zion, for now I am coming to live among you -Yahweh declares! 15 And on that day many nations will be converted to Yahweh. Yes, they will become his people, and they will live among you. Then you will know that Yahweh Sabaoth has sent me to you! 16 Yahweh will take possession of Judah, his portion in the Holy Land, and again make Jerusalem his choice. (Zechariah 2:10-16, NJB; note in translations such as the NKJV these are shown as Zechariah 2:6-12)

The ecumenical and inter-faith movements that the Vatican and the Eastern Orthodox leaders are promoting are clearly condemned by the Bible and should not be encouraged.

The Apostle Paul also taught that true unity of faith would not happen until after Jesus returns:

13 until we all reach unity in faith and knowledge of the Son of God and form the perfect Man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself. (Ephesians 4:13, NJB)

Those who believe this unity comes prior to Jesus' return are in error. We are not ‘perfect’ until after He comes (cf. 1 John 1:8). Many misunderstand what the Bible teaches about unity of the faith.

Actually, when Jesus returns, He will destroy the unity of nations that are against Him:

11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and voices could be heard shouting in heaven, calling, 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.' 16 The twenty-four elders, enthroned in the presence of God, prostrated themselves and touched the ground with their foreheads worshipping God 17 with these words, 'We give thanks to you, Almighty Lord God, He who is, He who was, for assuming your great power and beginning your reign. 18 The nations were in uproar and now the time has come for your retribution, and for the dead to be judged, and for your servants the prophets, for the saints and for those who fear your name, small and great alike, to be rewarded. The time has come to destroy those who are destroying the earth.' (Revelation 11:15-18, NJB)

19:6 And I heard what seemed to be the voices of a huge crowd, like the sound of the ocean or the great roar of thunder, answering, 'Alleluia! The reign of the Lord our God Almighty has begun;... 19 Then I saw the beast, with all the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to fight the Rider and his army. 20 But the beast was taken prisoner, together with the false prophet who had worked miracles on the beast's behalf and by them had deceived those who had accepted branding with the mark of the beast and those who had worshipped his statue. These two were hurled alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur. 21 All the rest were killed by the sword of the Rider, which came out of his mouth, and all the birds glutted themselves with their flesh... 20:4 Then I saw thrones, where they took their seats, and on them was conferred the power to give judgement. I saw the souls of all who had been beheaded for having witnessed for Jesus and for having preached God's word, and those who refused to worship the beast or his statue and would not accept the brandmark on their foreheads or hands; they came to life, and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (Revelation 19:6,19-21; 20:4, NJB)

Notice that Jesus will have to destroy world of armies unified against Him. Then He and the saints will reign. That is when there will be proper unity of the faith.

Conclusion

Certain of the Eastern Orthodox are convinced that the Vatican will be part of an eighth (by their count) ecumenical council that will result in Rome changing many doctrines in order to unify with them (though many Orthodox, like Catholics, are not interested in unity at this time). This council will apparently accept certain doctrines by those now also considered to be heretics.

The Bible clearly warns against being part of the new Babylon (Revelation 18:4-5), so, a reunification of the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Roman Catholic) Churches (likely through compromise on both sides), and the “Great Monarch’s” subsequent influence on them should alarm people.

Both the Bible and Greco-Roman prophecies warn of a time when a militaristic leader (the Great Monarch, called the Beast or King of the North in the Bible) and an antipope (called the false prophet, who is the final Antichrist, in the Bible) will rise up. This militaristic leader is expected to conquer the American and British-descended peoples and make others rich.

Is a changed religion and the destruction of America (including Canada) and the British-descended peoples (including Australia and New Zealand) something that American Catholics want? Recall that this is taught in both biblical and Greco-Roman prophecies.

While few I have spoken to are in favor of that, few seem to understand that is what is expected to happen from all the ecumenical discussions that have taken place between the Vatican and the Eastern Orthodox over the past few decades. Despite denials by many who now oppose ecumenical unity, the Bible warns that nearly all, however, will end up being deceived (Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12; Revelation 13:1-4,8). It will also end up with destruction for the religion associated with the city of seven hills (Revelation 17:16-18).

All people, whether they profess Christ or not, need to take heed and NOT support the coming ecumenical unity even if it is supported by signs and apparent miracles (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12). Only the elect, those who "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7) and who received "the love of the truth" (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:10) will not fall for this. Will you? Do you really have "the love of the truth"?

Roman Catholics need to resist unity with the Eastern Orthodox and turn back to the original faith of the Bible.

(Here is a link to a related video Should you be concerned about the ecumenical movement?)

Several items of possibly related interest may include:

Anglo - America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, British, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States?
Catholic Prophecies: Do They Mirror, Highlight, or Contradict Biblical Prophecies? People of all faiths may be surprised to see what various Roman and Orthodox Catholic prophets have been predicting as many of their predictions will be looked to in the 21st century.
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Continuing Church of God? Do you know that both groups shared a lot of the earliest teachings? Do you know which church changed? Do you know which group is most faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church? Which group best represents true Christianity? This documented article answers those questions.
Beware: Protestants Going Towards Ecumenical Destruction! What is going on in the Protestant world? Are Protestants turning back to their 'mother church' in Rome? Does the Bible warn about this? What are Catholic plans and prophecies related to this? Is Protestantism doomed? As far as some changes affecting Protestantism, watch the video Charismatic Kenneth Copeland and Anglican Tony Palmer: Protestants Beware!
Orthodox Must Reject Unity with the Roman Catholics Are the current ecumenical meetings a good thing or will they result in disaster?
Some Similarities and Differences Between the Orthodox Church and the Continuing Church of God Both groups claim to be the original church, but both groups have differing ways to claim it. Both groups have some amazing similarities and some major differences. Do you know what they are?
Will the Interfaith Movement Lead to Peace or Sudden Destruction? Is the interfaith movement going to lead to lasting peace or is it warned against?

Thiel B. Why Should American Catholics Should Fear Unity with the Orthodox? www.cogwriter.com/american-catholics-should-fear-unity-with-greek-orthodox.htm (c) 2009/2011/2012/2013/2014/2015/2016/2017/2019 0626 COGwriter

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