TW on Pope and Youth Day; COGwriter on Pope’s Ecumenical Plea

Pope Benedict XVI

In today’s TW News & Prophecy, the Living Church of God reported:

Last month, hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholic youth from around the globe met in Madrid for World Youth Day (WYD) and to hear Pope Benedict XVI speak. WYD is designed to reach Roman Catholic youth and bring “meaning” to their beliefs. “The general consensus from those who have done research on them [WYD youth] is that World Youth Days tend to combine young people’s taste for stars and big events with a spiritual dimension.”

Testimonies show the results. “‘I was really touched by the pope’s words,’ says Jonathan Meunier-Doyon, 16, of Quebec. ‘What he said to us about Christ being a rock on whom we can build our lives has really moved me.'” Stella, age 17, commented, “WYD has been the best experience of my life. When I go home I’ll tell young people not to be afraid to follow Christ.” Lupita Ramírez, 23, from Monterrey, Mexico observed, “We queued for five hours in the Plaza del Sol to see the Pope. If every young person in the world followed Christ, it would be full of peace” (Times, August 27, 2011). These comments reveal a desire in young people to understand the meaning of life and a need for encouragement to live their faith.

While the pope’s words appealed to the idealism of many young people, important details were not addressed. The message of WYD only contains part of the truth–when the world does follow Christ, it will be full of peace! However, the Scriptures reveal that human beings do not know the way to peace (Isaiah 59:8). Real peace will only come with the return of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 9:6-7) and when the world begins to follow the laws of God (Psalm 119:165). Jesus also warned that at the end of the age many false teachers would use His name and talk of “peace” (Matthew 24:4-5; Jeremiah 8:11).

The real way to peace involves teaching young people God’s ways and His truth (Deuteronomy 11:18-21). Youth, like all people, yearn for a hope for the future and to understand the purpose for life. Sadly, today many grow up without real hope. And although the pope provided some “hope” for those attending WYD this year, he was unable to reveal the real meaning of life or the true way to peace. This will happen when Christ returns and the knowledge of God will cover the earth “as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).

For more information on this incredible hope, see our booklet Your Ultimate Destiny!

But it is not just young people the pontiff is trying to reach.

Today, Pope Benedict is in Germany has made many making positive overtures towards the Lutherans there:

23 September 2011. ERFURT, Germany (CNS) — Visiting the land of Martin Luther, Pope Benedict XVI prayed for Christian unity and told Lutheran leaders that both secularization and Christian fundamentalism pose challenges to ecumenism today…

The pope listened as a mixed Catholic-Lutheran choir sang hymns in the vaulted chapter house of the former monastery, which has become a memorial to Luther, the founder of the Protestant Reformation…

Germany’s Lutheran leaders had requested the encounter with the pope, and Vatican officials said the pope was more than happy to make it the main event of his second day in Germany. Pope Benedict has long appreciated Luther’s writings and occasionally has cited him in his talks.

The ecumenical service featured a reading of Psalm 146 from Luther’s translation of the Bible, in what Vatican officials said was a papal sign of respect for the Protestant founder…Seated in the front row were German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a Lutheran, and German President Christian Wulff, a Catholic married to a Lutheran. http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1103775.htm

The plea for unity is consistent with the Pope’s goal of ecumenical unity. Angela Merkel herself appears to promote it as well (see also EU Resembling ‘Holy Roman Empire’ and Religion Urged by Germany).

While many in the Church of Rome wish ecumenical unity with the Protestants and the Eastern Orthodox Catholics, biblical, Catholic, and Orthodox prophecies seem to have parts that warn against such ecumenical unity (though some Catholic/Orthodox prophecies look forward to it). I personally believe that the Lutherans in continental Europe will almost all end up supporting ecumenical unity with something that will be supported by Rome (I have long been concerned that the Vatican would compromise to attain unity and did so nearly two years ago when it allowed the Anglicans who were willing to come back into unity with it).

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 other changes to the “Catholic” religion that will make it a more acceptable religion of the final Antichrist.

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.

A leader is supposed to eliminate Protestantism through a German duke (it may be of interest to note that the nominally-Catholic Baron Karl zu Guttenberg is married to a Lutheran):

Father Laurence Ricci, S.J. (died 1775): With His aide 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 and the Turkish empire will end. 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.”

Part of how Protestantism is be eliminated is through ecumenical compromise according to the above and as well as a Roman Catholic 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)

Some Orthodox seem to 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)

Now there is 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)

So, there are both Roman and Orthodox Catholic writings that warn against some type of future unifying developments.

Some type of global religious unity is prophesied in scripture before Jesus returns (Revelation 13:4,8) and not in a favorable light. All should be cautious about where current ecumenical hopes and talks will lead.

Some articles of related interest may include:

Why Should American Catholics Should Fear Unity with the Orthodox? Are the current ecumenical meetings a good thing or will they result in disaster?
Orthodox Must Reject Unity with the Roman Catholics The talks for unification involve compromise and the apparent rising up of a changed religion that no one should accept.
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.
Might German Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg become the King of the North? Is the German Defense Minister one to watch? What do Catholic, Byzantine, and biblical prophecies suggest?