Church of God News

COGwriter

A Canadian supporter sent me links to the following two articles:

Tanzania: Church Schism Under Pope Francis Is Possible

Raymond Cardinal Burke, a conservative who does not support Pope Francis liberal ideas on marriage

Until recently I had largely believed in the liberal narrative which holds that Pope Francis’s reforms of the Catholic church are unstoppable.

But the conservative backlash has been so fierce and so far-reaching that for the first time a split looks a real, if distant, possibility.

One leading conservative, the Australian Cardinal George Pell, published last weekend a homily he had prepared for the traditional Latin mass at which he started ruminating on papal authority.

Pope Francis, he said, was the 266th pope, “and history has seen 37 false or antipopes”.

Why mention them, except to raise the possibility that Francis might turn out to be the 38th false pope, rather than the 266th real one?

This is a fascinating nudge in the direction of an established strain of conservative fringe belief: that liberalising popes are not in fact real popes, but imposters, sent by the devil.

The explanation has an attractively deranged logic: if the pope is always right, as traditionalists would like to believe, and if this particular pope is clearly wrong, as traditionalists also believe, then obviously this pope is not the real pope.

Splinter groups have held this view ever since the liberalising papacy of Pope John XXIII at the start of the 1960s.

I don’t think that’s what Pell meant, but it was odd and threatening to bring the subject up at all.

The other warning of schism, though veiled in regret, came from the conservative American journalist Ross Douthat, who wrote on Sunday that “[Conservative Catholics] might want to consider the possibility that they have a role to play, and that this pope may be preserved from error only if the church itself resists him.” http://allafrica.com/stories/201411031441.html

In an interview with the Spanish Catholic weekly Vida Nueva this week Burke, former Archbishop of St. Louis,  compared the Roman Catholic Church under Francis to “a ship without a rudder.”

It’s the latest shocking salvo from the conservative firebrand, who is increasingly dismissive of his infallible leader.

Burke, 66, said he was not speaking out against the pope personally, but rather “raising concerns” about the quality of his leadership.

“Many have expressed their concerns to me. At this very critical moment, there is a strong sense that the church is like a ship without a rudder,” Burke, a Wisconsin native with Tipperary roots said.

Having emerged as the voice of conservative Catholicism in the US, the outspoken cardinal is increasingly positioning himself as the biggest roadblock to Pope Francis’ reformist agenda.  http://popefrancis.einnews.com/article/232553684/i3m8bwsqVdUG5rnU

It is Pope Francis’ views on homosexuality, marriage, and divorce that the two cardinals have raised concerns about.

Both biblical and Catholic prophecy warn about a religious leader, who sounds like a pope, who will betray the Church of Rome (cf. Revelation 17) and mislead the world.

It should be noted that certain ‘fringe’ Catholic groups have considered pretty much all popes since Vatican II as antipopes.  Notice something from one such group:

“Now when he [the Pope] is explicitly a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church…” St. Francis De Sales (17^th century), Catholic Doctor of the Church, The Catholic Controversy, pp. 305-306 :  The Catholic Teaching that a heretic cannot be a valid pope and loses the papal office automatically …

There have been 260 valid popes in Catholic history, and more than 40 antipopes (i.e., men who posed as popes but had not been truly elected).  There have been more than 200 papal vacancies (periods without a pope).  The facts available on this website prove that the last five men who have claimed be popes – Anti-Pope Francis, Benedict XVI, John Paul II, John Paul I, Paul VI and John XXIII, the men who brought in Vatican II – have been and are antipopes.  We prove that they are/were manifest heretics and not true Catholics. http://www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com/catholicchurch/anti-pope-francis-vatican-ii-antipopes/#.VFjbzMn4oys viewed 11/04/14

While the above group is definitely not in full communion with the Vatican, the Cardinals Burke and Pell are (though that they change soon).  The fact that two cardinals have raised public concerns about Francis indicates that others also share that view.

Furthermore, various Catholic leaders have claimed that despite ‘papal infallibility, that popes can commit heresy and should be driven out of the Church of Rome.

Notice also the following from a letter on the EWTN (a Catholic source) website:

St Robert Bellarmine, “De Romano Pontifice”, liber II, caput 30:

Est ergo quinta opinio vera, papam haereticum manifestum per se desinere esse papam et caput, sicut per se desinit esse christianus et membrum corporis Ecclesiae; quare ab, Ecclesia posse eum judicari et puniri. Haec est sententia omnium veterum Patrum, qui docent, haereticos manifestos mox amittere omnem jurisdictionem.

“Therefore, the true opinion is the fifth, according to which the Pope who is manifestly a heretic ceases by himself to be Pope and head, in the same way as he ceases to be a Christian and a member of the body of the Church; and for this reason he can be judged and punished by the Church. This is the opinion of all the ancient Fathers, who teach that manifest heretics immediately lose all jurisdiction,

Fundamentum hujus sententiae est. quoniam haereticus manifestos nullo modo est membrum Ecclesiae, idest, neque animo neque corpore, sive neque unione interna, neque externa.

“The foundation of this argument is that the manifest heretic is not in any way a member of the Church, that is, neither spiritually nor corporally, which signifies that he is not such by internal union nor by external union. …

St. Francis de Sales, …

“Under the ancient law the High Priest did not wear the Rational except when he was vested in the pontifical robes and was entering before the Lord. Thus we do not say that the Pope cannot err in his private opinions, as did John XXII; or be altogether a heretic, as perhaps Honorius was. Now when he is explicitly a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity out of the Church, and the Church must either deprive him, as some say, or declare him deprived, of his Apostolic See, and must say as St. Peter did: Let another take his bishopric (Acts I). …

Cum Ex Apostolatus Officio, Apostolic Constitution of His Holiness Pope Paul IV, February 15, 1559.(ROMAN BULLARIUM VOL. IV. SEC. I, PP. 354-357)

6. In addition, [by this Our Constitution, which is to remain valid in perpetuity We enact, determine, decree and define:-] that if ever at any time it shall appear that any Bishop, even if he be acting as an Archbishop, Patriarch or Primate; or any Cardinal of the aforesaid Roman Church, or, as has already been mentioned, any legate, or even the Roman Pontiff, prior to his promotion or his elevation as Cardinal or Roman Pontiff, has deviated from the Catholic Faith or fallen into some heresy: (i) the promotion or elevation, even if it shall have been uncontested and by the unanimous assent of all the Cardinals, shall be null, void and worthless;

(A Pope May Unfortunately Defect from the Faith, Question from Raymond Antonini on 10-16-2001. EWTN Catholic Q&A. http://www.ewtn.com/vexperts/showmessage_print.asp?number=333437&language=en viewed 11/04/14)

While fringe Catholic groups (like the source of the quote immediately above this) have considered several recent pontiffs as antipopes, the fact that two cardinals have recently challenged some of Pope Francis’ positions suggest it is no longer fringe Catholic leaders that are concerned about the rise of a possible antipope.

If Pope Francis is truly the last pope, and that is not clear yet, he would not truly be Catholic. Notice some statements from my book The Last Pope: Do Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Francis?:

Is the Pope Catholic or Will He Betray Rome?

In some households, the expression, “Is the Pope Catholic?,” is asked with the intent of suggesting a “yes” or “obviously yes” response to a question. Since the fourth century, the popes have all claimed to be Catholic (they were not called “pontifex maximus” prior to then) and the vast majority have been Roman Catholic in their faith. Some were more hypocritical, etc. and thus this author would be hesitant to claim that all the Bishops of Rome have truly held to the faith of that church.

But is it possible that the last pope, who could be Pope Francis I, will not be Roman Catholic? On the surface this seems absurd.

As discussed in chapter 2, prior to becoming Pope Francis I, Jorge Mario Bergoglio went to Catholic seminary, became a Catholic priest, then a bishop, then a cardinal, and then on March 13, 2013, the Bishop of Rome. So, to most he clearly is a Catholic. And Pope Francis I may well truly be.

But if he is the last and final pope, then the Bible shows that he will allow compromise mightily and allow the Catholic Church of Rome to be betrayed, hence suggesting that he would not then be true to the Catholic faith.

Connecting the Dots

As cited earlier, the Bible tells of a religious leader who will rise up and support the final European Beast power to the point of attempting to force people to worship that Beast (Revelation 13:11-17).

Although some have suggested that the ten-horned Beast of the Sea (Revelation 13:1-4) will turn against and burn the two-horned Beast of the Earth (Revelation 13:11), based upon the teachings of Revelation 17:16-17, since this two-horned Beast is the False Prophet of Revelation 16:13 and he gets burnt by Jesus and His angels (Revelation 19:15-21, someone or something else must get destroyed in Revelation 17.

The Bible specifies that the someone/something is a city that rules over the world. Since the time of Jesus, what are the only organizations that ruled over much of the old Roman Empire from a seven-hilled city?

They would include the old Roman Empire, the Church of Rome, and to a lessor degree, the Eastern Orthodox Church (Constantinople/ Istanbul is on seven-hills, similar to Rome and had a certain prominence for about 1,000 years). They have had relations with world rulers that have not always lived up to New Testament ideals and actually are the only ones that could possibly fit the historical record.

Now since parts of both Roman and Orthodox Catholic prophecy show that Rome wins out between the two in the end in terms of final top leader, this is consistent with the historical understanding within the Church of God that Rome is the unfaithful woman in Revelation 17. Presuming that is the case, then if one connects-the-dots, it is the Church of Rome that gets betrayed by supporters of the ten-horned Beast in Revelation 17. And since the two-horned Beast is a major supporter of the ten-horned Beast, he then has at least some responsibility in this end time destruction of the Church of Rome (for more dots to connect, see also chapters 5 and 12).

Since it should be almost inconceivable that a pope that was truly Roman Catholic in the sense of the Catechism of the Catholic Church would totally betray his church, this is why I am suggesting that the last pope will not truly be Catholic.

This destruction of Rome is consistent with various Catholic private prophecies that suggest that a top Roman clergy member (like a pope) would betray their church and oversee the destruction of Rome…

For years I have believed that the last pope would not truly be Catholic. He would be a different type of “antipope” (most antipopes occurred because of disputed elections, but I have suggested that a pontiff who does not hold too many of the core beliefs of the Church of Rome would also seem to fit the definition of an antipope).

Will Pope Francis I end up being that pontiff?

(Thiel B. The Last Pope: Do Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Francis? Nazarene Books, 2013, pp. 86-89)

Pope Francis has taken steps that many Catholics do not believe are appropriate for the Bishop of Rome. Yet, they act like other than protest, they cannot go anywhere else as they improperly believe that the Church of Rome is the original church that Jesus founded through His apostles. Those interested in learning which church actually is faithful and has proper succession from the original church that Jesus founded, should carefully study the article Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Continuing Church of God?

Conservative Catholics also may wish to consider the following Catholic private prophecies, which are shown below as cited in my book The Last Pope: Do Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Francis?:

Catholic Prophets/Writers Have Warned that a Major “Antipope” is to Come

Various Catholic prophecies warn that a major “antipope” and major schism is to come. Since there has not been an antipope since the 15^th century, for numerous reasons these could be interpreted to mean that a 21^st century pope will be an antipope who will implement changes:

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

Yves Dupont {writer interpreting A. Emmerick}: 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.

Anne Catherine Emmerich (January 12, 1820): There is now some question of Protestants sharing in the government of the Catholic clergy.

Anne Catherine Emmerich (July 1820): I came to the church of Peter and Paul (Rome) and saw a dark world of distress, confusion, and corruption…

Anne Catherine Emmerich (January 27, 1822): I saw many Christians returning to the bosom of the Church, entering through the walls. That Pope will be strict, he will remove the lukewarm, tepid Bishops—but it will be a long time before this happens.

Anne Catherine Emmerich (October 22, 1822): I saw in Germany among the worldly-wise ecclesiastics, and enlightened Protestants, plans formed for the blending of all religious creeds…

Anne Catherine Emmerich (April, 1823): They built a large, singular, extravagant church which was to embrace all creeds with equal rights: Evangelicals, Catholics, and all denominations, a true communion of the unholy with one shepherd and one flock. There was to be a Pope, a salaried Pope without possessions.

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

Jeanne le Royer (died 1798): I see that when the Second Coming of Christ approaches a bad priest will do much harm to the Church.

St. Gregory the Great, Pope (d. 604): In those days, near the end…an army of priests and two-thirds of the Christians will join the Schism.

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

Catholic priest and writer R. Gerald Culleton (20^th century): A schism of short duration is destined to break out…An antipope, of German origin, is to be set up, and finally Rome itself will be destroyed”.

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.

Blessed Joachim (died 1202): Towards the end of the world Antichrist will overthrow the Pope and usurp his See.

Merlin (7^th century): There will come a German Anti-Pope. Italy and Germany will be sorely troubled. A French King will restore the true Pope.

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 those heretics which will cause My order to divide, then will there be such universal dissentions and persecutions that if these days were not shortened even the elect would be lost.

Capuchin Friar (18^th century): During these calamities the Pope shall die…three popes shall be simultaneously elected…the third…by force of arms, shall be placed on the throne.

Priest E. Sylvester Berry (published 1920): It has been a matter of history that the most disastrous periods for the Church were times when the Papal throne was vacant or when anti-popes contended with the legitimate head of the Church. Thus shall it be in those evil days to come.

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

Priest Herman Kramer (20^th century): This false prophet possibly at the behest of Antichrist usurps the papal supremacy.

Catholic writers Ted and Maureen Flynn (1993): Catholic prophecy warns us of severe problems threatening the papacy in these end times…An Antipope will seize papal authority…It will be those who hold fast to the truths of the faith who will be labelled as the perpetuators of this horrible schism, according to some visionaries.

Priest Paul Kramer reported: In 1999…Malachi Martin stated…that Our Lady’s words were very dry and specific and they foretold of a future “pope” (not the true Pope, but a heretical antipope) who would be completely under the control of the devil.

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

Priest Paul Kramer (21^st century): The counterfeit “Catholic” Church — the counter-church, the anti-church — the mystery of the dragon, whose tail swept down a third of the “stars of Heaven,” i.e. one third of the Catholic hierarchy under the leadership of a heretical antipope.

Priest Herman Kramer (20^th century): In accord with the text this is unmistakably a PAPAL ELECTION . . . But at this time the great powers may take a menacing attitude to hinder the election of the logical and expected candidate by threats of a general apostasy, assassination or imprisonment of this candidate if elected. This would suppose an extremely hostile mind in the governments of Europe towards the Church, because an extended interregnum in the papacy is always disastrous and more so in a time of universal persecution. If Satan would contrive to hinder a papal election, the Church would suffer great travail… one…destined for the papacy at the time will institute the needed reforms. A general council may decree the reforms…The lax clergy at the time will extol the conditions then existing…The dragon is a symbolic term for the evil world powers…They will try to make the Church a “state church” everywhere. This is only possible if they can subject the pope to their wills and compel him to teach and rule as they direct. That would be literally devouring the papacy.

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

Even the Catholic saint “Pope Gregory the Great” warned that he believed that the time would come when most Catholics would fall for a changed church (which he called a “schism”) in the time of the end. Would this not take a leader that would be, or at least be like, an antipope or the final Antichrist?

As the list above shows, there are many Catholic writers/saints who have warned of some type of an antipope, maybe even the False Prophet, who could be ecumenical, would lead a compromised church, and may listen to the powers of governments in Europe and, possibly, elsewhere.

The Bible, itself, warns of a time when a European Beast will make some type of deal with an ecumenical Roman religious leader (the False Prophet) and later turn on a compromised church (cf. Revelation 17:15-18; 19:20).

(Thiel B. The Last Pope: Do Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Francis? Nazarene Books, 2013, pp. 26-32)

The Bible warns that the world will follow and worship the final Beast power in Revelation 13:4,8. The Bible warns that a false religious leader who looks like a lamb, but has the words of a dragon will encourage this to happen in Revelation 13:11.  He will lead people to an ecumenical/interfaith religion, and whether or not Pope Francis is the ‘beast of the earth of Revelation 13:11, he most certainly has advocated an ecumenical/interfaith agenda.  Pope Francis has worked with Protestants, the Eastern Orthodox, the United Nations, and others to encourage this.

The Bible also warns that God’s people need to not be part of that system (Revelation 14:9-12; 16:2; 18:4). Jesus warned that most people would be deceived (Matthew 24:24).

Biblical prophecies show that Rome (cf. Revelation 17:1-9, 18) will be betrayed (Revelation 17:16-17) and that the Antichrist/False Prophet will survive that betrayal until Jesus returns (Revelation 19:19-20).

This means that both biblical and Catholic prophecies warn of betrayal of the Church of Rome but some ecclesiastical authority who sounds like an antipope.  Some wonder if Pope Francis is that ecclesiastical authority.  We shall see, but he truly has taken steps consistent with being that ecclesiastical authority so far.

Some items of related interest may include:

Tweet

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 4th, 2014 at 8:00 am and is filed under Prophecy, Religious News.

• BibleNewsProphecy: Could Pope Francis I be the Last Pope and Antichrist?
• Announcing FREE Book: The Last Pope: Do Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Point to Francis I?
• Time is running out on FREE book: The Last Pope
• BibleNewsProphecy: What does the Bible teach about the Antichrist?
• BibleNewsProphecy: Anti-Pope Francis?
• Why the Fatima Center is excited about Pope Francis and what this could mean prophetically
• Maher: ‘They’re going to poison’ Pope Francis; The Protestant Pope?
• Time names Pope Francis ‘Person of the Year’
• Pope Francis entrusts pontificate to ‘Mary’ and Cardinal hopes for Islamic cooperation
• Pope Francis tightens controls at Vatican Bank: A prelude to Revelation 13:16-18?