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Patriarch Bartholomew, Pope Francis, and Pope Tawadros II

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The trio whose photos are shown above met again as part of their ecumenical and interfaith agendas in Bari, Italy:

Pope Francis Visits City of St. Nicholas in Unprecedented Ecumenical Gesture for the Middle East

8 July 2018

Pope Francis has denounced murderous indifference toward the tragedies that have struck the Middle East, and rallied together in the southern Italian city of Bari with Christian leaders of the Middle East in an unprecedented initiative. But why was Bari chosen? Perhaps not everyone knows that in Bari, ecumenism, isn’t just an idea, but it is its reality, and this all traces back to St. Nicholas . . .

Saint Nicholas’ Basilica is a tangible sign of unity — although still imperfect — between Catholics and Orthodox. …

Pope Francis and Church leaders yesterday visited the basilica, and descending into the crypt, prayed before the relics of St. Nicholas.

Since ancient times, Saint Nicholas has been one of the most venerated Saints of Christianity. …

When Saint Nicholas’ city of birth fell into the hands of Muslim Turks at the end of the 11th century, a shipment of sailors purloined the Saint’s relics and took them to Bari, where devotion to him was already widespread. Nevertheless, the bond between the Orthodox East and Nicholas was never broken. Still today, recited in Orthodox liturgy is a sort of invocation to “happy Bari, which received this Saint of the East to also sanctify the West.”

This Italian city, the main one in the region of Puglia, has become, thanks to Saint Nicholas, a bridge between East and West: every year it welcomes thousands of Orthodox pilgrims from Russia, the Balkans and Greece. https://zenit.org/articles/feature-pope-francis-visits-city-of-st-nicholas-in-unprecedented-ecumenical-gesture-for-the-middle-east/

8 July 2018

Francis greeted the patriarchs outside the Basilica of St. Nicholas and together they descended to the crypt to pray before the relics and light a flame for peace symbolizing the unity of Christians divided by over 1,000 years of schism.

“We commit ourselves to walking, praying and working together, in the hope that the art of encounter will prevail over strategies of conflict,” Francis said at the end of the encounter as children released doves of peace. …

The Vatican has also long sought an internationally guaranteed status for Jerusalem that safeguards its sacred character for Jews, Muslims and Christians, and has responded to the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital by urging respect for the status quo of the holy city. ..

The meeting was the first of its kind, gathering most of the Middle East’s Orthodox patriarchs with the head of the 1.2-billion strong Catholic Church as well as Lutheran leaders and their Christian representatives in the Holy Land. After the public prayer on Bari’s seafront, the black-draped patriarchs and white-cassocked pope met in private inside the basilica and then lunched together. http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2018/jul/08/pope-calls-for-end-to-mideast-violence-/?news-world

So, Lutheran leaders were also there and apparently prayed before the relics of Nicholas. The leaders who went to Bari need to study the Bible and perhaps read the article: What Did the Early Church Teach About Idols and Icons?

Russian Iconic Portrayal of Nicholas of Myra

Who was the real Catholic and Orthodox saint called Nicholas?

Here are some answers from a Catholic monsignor priest:

The Real St. Nicholas – Not Fat and Not Very Jolly Either.

(Dec 6) is the Feast of St. Nicholas. The real St. Nicholas was nothing close to the St. Nick (Santa Claus) of the modern age. He was a thin curmudgeonly man with a zeal for the Lord that caused flairs of anger. Compromise was unknown to him. The slow transformation of him into “Jolly ole’ Saint Nicholas is a remarkable recasting of him centuries in the making…

Enjoy this excerpt on the real St. Nicholas of Myra (aka Santa):

He approaches Arius, fist raised menacingly. There are gasps. Would he dare? He would. Fist strikes face. Arius goes down. He will have a shiner. Nick, meanwhile, is set upon by holy men. His robes are torn off. He is thrown into a dungeon…

Saint Nicholas. Paintings show a thin man. He was spare of frame, flinty of eye, pugnacious of spirit. In the Middle Ages, he was known as a brawling saint. He had no particular sense of humor that we know of. He could be vengeful, wrathful, an embittered ex- con….No doubt, Saint Nick was a good man. A noble man. But a hard man.

Nicholas was born in Patara, a small town on the Mediterranean coast, 280 years after the birth of Christ. He became bishop of a small town in Asia Minor called Myra. Beyond that, details of his life are more legend than fact….He became a priest at 19, and bishop in his twenties…Nicholas of Myra might not seem like the kind of person who relates to kids, and few acts attributed to him involve children.

St. Nicholas of Myra morphed into Santa Claus. (Pope C, Msgr. The Real St. Nicholas – Not Fat and Not Very Jolly Either. http://blog.adw.org/2012/12/the-real-st-nicholas-not-fat-and-not-very-jolly-either/ viewed 12/6/12)

So, Nicholas was a violent and hard man according to a senior Catholic priest.

Here are two more articles about him, with a Germanic focus:

Though they have similar outfits, Nikolaus is not to be confused with Santa Claus, who Germans call the Weihnachtsmann, or Father Christmas…

Each year on December 6, Germans remember the death of Nicholas of Myra (now the Anatolia region of modern Turkey), who died on that day in 346. He was a Greek Christian bishop known for miracles and giving gifts secretly, and is now the patron saint of little children, sailors, merchants and students. Known as Nicholas the Wonderworker for his miracles, he is also identified with Santa Claus. Beliefs and traditions about Nikolaus were probably combined with German mythology, particularly regarding stories about the bearded pagan god Odin, who also had a beard and a bag to capture naughty children…

Children were often quite frightened of being questioned about their behaviour because they’ve been told that St. Nicholas will hurt them with his rod or even put them in a sack and take them away. http://www.thelocal.de/society/20111206-15915.html

Each year on December 6, Germans remember the death of Nicholas of Myra (now the Anatolia region of modern Turkey), who died on that day in 346. He was a Greek Christian bishop known for miracles… is now the patron saint of little children, sailors, merchants and students. Known as Nicholas the Wonderworker for his miracles, he is also identified with Santa Claus. Beliefs and traditions about Nikolaus were probably combined with German mythology, particularly regarding stories about the bearded pagan god Odin, who also had a beard and a bag to capture naughty children. http://www.thelocal.de/society/20121206-15915.html

Notice the following from the St. Nicholas Center:

In 325 Emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicaea, which was the first ecumenical council ever held. More than 300 bishops from all over the Christian world came to debate the nature of the Holy Trinity, one of the early church’s most intense theological questions. Arias, from Egypt, taught that the Son Jesus was not equal to God the Father. This was the Arian controversy which shook Christianity’s very foundations. According to one account, when confronted by the unyielding Arias, Nicholas slapped him in the face. For such a breach of decorum, Nicholas was brought before Constantine, who stripped him of his office and had him thrown into prison. During the night, Jesus with his Mother Mary appeared to Nicholas: Jesus bringing the book of the Gospels, and Mary, the bishop’s stole which had been taken from him. In this way Nicholas was reinstated. (Bishop of Myra. St. Nicholas Center. http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/bishop-of-myra/ viewed 12/05/14)

While Jesus is God, since Jesus said, “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), this should help prove that Nicholas was wrong to punch somebody who claimed to believe something like that–plus Christians are not to be violent (Luke 3:14; see also Military Service and the Churches of God: Do Real Christians Participate in Carnal Warfare or Encourage Violence? ). Hence this helps demonstrate that Jesus’ mother Mary truly DID NOT appear to him, to get him acquitted of this. Mary, the mother of Jesus, did not appear to Nicholas (see also Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions).

Perhaps I should mention that when my wife and I were in Serbia, we were told that Nicholas is the most popular ‘saint’ in that Eastern Orthodox-dominated land.

Here is some of what the Eastern Orthodox have strangely claimed about him:

As a faithful bishop/shepherd, St. Nicholas was revered as a saint even before his death because of his great holiness and tender care of his flock. After the Blessed Mother and St. John the Forerunner (Baptist), Nicholas was the most revered saint in the early church. He is most honored in the East, especially in Russia. Throughout the world many churches are named for him—more than for any other saint. His ministry continues to this day as a powerful intercessor for the protection and advancement of the Church. (Orthodox America and St. Therese Byzantine Catholic Church, St. Petersburg, Florida. http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/wonderworker/)

Of course, according to the Holy Bible, the only intercessor listed in the Bible is Christ (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25)–and Jesus is specifically called the “one mediator” (1 Timothy 2:5, Douay-Rheims). Nicholas is not one who should be revered and he is NOT our intercessor.

But those who are pushing the interfaith and ecumenical agendas do not seem to often let the Bible get in the way of their plans.

Now, these plans are also political. Notice the following report about what Pope Francis said in Bari:

In a July 7 speech closing an ecumenical gathering in Bari with heads of Christian churches in the Middle East, Francis said that for peace to be a realistic possibility, “it is essential that those in power choose finally and decisively to work for true peace and not for their own interests.” …

“Truces maintained by walls and displays of power will not lead to peace, but only the concrete desire to listen and to engage in dialogue,” he said …

The ecumenical gathering in Bari drew the participation of some 19 leaders of Eastern Catholic Churches and Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, and other ecclesial communities.

After venerating the relics of St. Nicholas and leading both patriarchs and pilgrims in a prayer gathering, Pope Francis and the heads of churches present held a closed-door meeting to evaluate the situation of the Middle East, and discuss peace efforts. …

He pointed to the problem of fundamentalism and fanaticism as driving factors in many of the world’s current conflicts, which “under the guise of religion, have profaned God’s name – which is peace – and persecuted age-old neighbors.” …

Turning to Jerusalem, an inter-religious hub sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims alike, Francis said he was “anguished” to think about the ongoing tensions in the area, and said the status quo of the city “demands to be respected, as decided by the international community and repeatedly requested by the Christian communities of the Holy Land.”

“Only a negotiated solution between Israelis and Palestinians, firmly willed and promoted by the international community, will be able to lead to a stable and lasting peace, and guarantee the coexistence of two states for two peoples,” he said.

Basically, Pope Francis was taking several shots against the policies of US President Donald Trump.

When Pope Francis pushes for “a negotiated solution … firmly willed and promoted by the international community,” basically he means the United Nations and European Union (yes, he allows for the USA, but he is not keen on USA policies at this time).

Anyway, let me state that there will come “a negotiated solution between Israelis and Palestinians” that will have international involvement.

This is prophesied in the Book of Daniel:

26 And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate (Daniel 9:26-27).

The ‘one week’ time element has generally been understood by prophecy watchers to mean a temporary seven year deal (2520 days, based on prophetic 360 day years), that will be broken in the middle of it (after 3 1/2 years). The Hebrew word translated as “week” literally means “sevened” (OT:7620 literal, sevened. Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.).

The ‘with many’ referred to in this passage points to ‘many’ nations, as opposed to one or two, are agreeing to something.

While Daniel 9:26 calls this leader a “prince,” he is later referred to as the king of a developing European empire. specifically the King of the North (Daniel 11:40; see also King of the North and Europa, the Beast, and the Book of Revelation). Daniel 9:26-27 tie directly in with Daniel 11:

31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. (Daniel 11:31)

One way to show this is a European empire is to realize that it was the people of the Roman Empire of the 1st century that fulfilled the portion of Daniel 9:26 as they destroyed the city (Jerusalem) in 70 A.D. Jewish sources, while not understanding all of this, also agree that it was Roman sources that destroyed the city and sanctuary as the following demonstrates:

“The people of the prince will come and destroy the city and the Sanctuary” Daniel 9:26, refers to the Roman legions of Vespasian and Titus, who destroyed Jerusalem. (Daniel 9 – A True Biblical Interpretation. Jews for Judaism. https://jewsforjudaism.org/knowledge/articles/answers/jewish-polemics/texts/daniel-9-a-true-biblical-interpretation/ accessed 07/30/16)

In the 21st century, the European Union includes much of the land and peoples that were part of the ancient Roman Empire.  And it is the “prince” coming from that people that verse 27 of Daniel 9 is referring to. Thus, this prophecy tells us that a lower level European leader will somewhat officially start to rise up about 3 1/2 years before the great tribulation (and yes, according to Jesus, some “tribulation” does happen prior to the start of the Great Tribulation). Another is the fact that the “beast of the sea” of Revelation 13:1 fits with the beasts from the “great sea” of Daniel 7:2–and that sea is the Mediterranean Sea according to the Old Testament. Hence, a power in Europe, the only region that could have an empire geographically like the old Roman one (for more details, please see Europa, the Beast, and the Book of Revelation). This is not an Arab empire, like some incorrectly claim (see also Can the Final Antichrist be Islamic?).

Perhaps it should be mentioned that Pope Francis received the Charlemagne Prize for promoting this empire (see Pope Francis given ‘Charlemagne Prize;’ EU leaders worried about EU’s future). Since Pope Francis is also promoting a Middle East peace deal involving many nations, he is actively taking steps that will one day lead to the fulfillment of Daniel 9:27.

When the ‘peace deal’ is made, the interfaith-ecumenical crowd will proclaim this as a success, despite the fact that war is prophesied to follow.

The Bible warns of a time people will proclaim peace before destruction comes:

3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:3)

The one called the King of the North in Daniel 11 (who is also called the Beast of the Sea in Revelation 13), will bring destruction:

36 “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. 37 He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. 38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. 39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.

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. (Daniel 11:36-43)

These warring efforts will destroy the USA (the power with the strongest fortresses in the 21st century), its closest allies like the UK, as well as give the European power territory in Africa and the Middle East. Similar to the old Roman Empire.

While a temporary peace deal will come to the Middle East, only the return of Jesus Christ and the millennial Kingdom will bring lasting peace. The ecumenical-interfaith movement cannot bring that.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 8th, 2018 at 7:45 am and is filed under Religious News.

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