EU’s Van Rompuy & Pope Meet in Vatican City: Preparing for a ‘Holy Roman Empire’?

Herman Van Rompuy

The EU President Herman van Rompuy has been in Vatican City meeting with the top leaders there:

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 14, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The president of the European Council visited Benedict XVI today in the Vatican.

According to a brief statement released by the Vatican press office, the Pope and Herman Van Rompuy spoke about the contributions that the Church wants to make to the European Union…

Van Rompuy went on to meet with the Holy Father’s secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and the secretary for relations with states, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti. http://www.zenit.org/article-33829?l=english

The European Union is the biggest economic power in the world (sometimes, depending upon the calculation, the USA is, but the trend is going more towards Europe). The European Union has about 500,000,000 people living within it.

Some act like the Pope has no real influence in world affairs. Yet, I would submit that Herman Van Rompuy’s visit with him suggests otherwise.

Some type of a “Catholic” empire will emerge in Europe (though ultimately, it will betray the church on seven hills per Revelation 17).

While some few Protestants are finally starting to wake up to the reality of an emerging European superpower being the revival of the old Roman Empire to represent the Beast of Revelation, the true Church of God has known this since Polycarp. The “Holy Roman Empire” in the Middle Ages and its many versions were only a foretaste of what will develop.

Even when Europe was still recovering from being devasted in World War II, in the December 1948 issue of The Plain Truth Herbert W. Armstrong predicted a coming “United States of Europe” (Armstrong HW. Now It Can Be Told…The Plain Truth, December 1948, p. 5). Herbert W. Armstrong’s old church also taught:

These ten nations, or groups of nations, comprising the modern revived Beast, are to fight Christ at His coming. This shows the time for the fulfillment of this prophecy…Remember that there must be TEN NATIONS or groups of nations to comprise the final resurrection of the modern “Holy Roman Empire”! (AMBASSADOR COLLEGE, BIBLE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE. LESSON 32 (1963, 1965, 1967, 1969)

“And in the days of these kings…”–it is here speaking of the ten toes, part of iron and part of brittle clay. This, by connecting the prophecy with Daniel 7, and Revelation 13 and 17, is referring to the new UNITED STATES OF EUROPE that is now forming, out of the European Common Market, before your very eyes! Revelation 17:12 makes plain the detail that it shall be a union of TEN KINGS OR KINGDOMS that (Rev. 17:8) shall resurrect the old ROMAN EMPIRE. So, mark carefully the time element! “In the days of these kings”–in the days of these then nations or groups of nations that shall, IN OUR TIME, resurrect briefly the Roman Empire… (The members of the European Common Market are probably not the same ten that will resurrect the Holy Roman Empire.) (Armstrong HW. Mystery of the Ages. Dood, Mead & Company, New York, 1985, pp. 301,302-303)

Hence an emerging, somewhat united, European power is something we have long taught about, and while it will reorganize into ten kingdoms first, the exact number of nations does not need to be ten. But it will be somewhat of a type of the old “Holy Roman Empire.”

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, interestingly wrote of Europe (the Mediterranean continent):

In the process of replacing boundaries, the conceptual continuity with the preceding Mediterranean continent…was assured by a theological interpretation of history: in connection with the Book of Daniel, the Roman Empire—renewed and transformed by the Christian faith—was considered to be the final and permanent kingdom in the history of the world in general, and therefore the association of peoples and states that was taking shape was defined as the permanent Sacrum Imperium Romanum [Holy Roman Empire]. (Raztinger J. Europe today and tomorrow: addressing the fundamental issues. Translated by Michael Miller. Ignatius Press, 2007, p. 13)

We can consider the rise of the Carolingian Empire, on the one hand, and the continuation of the Roman empire in Byzantium and its mission to the Slavic people, on the other, as the true and proper birth of the continent of Europe…(ibid, p. 17)

Greco-Christian, European culture of Byzantium…one of the two wings of Europe (ibid, p. 18).

Latin [that is, Western] Europe…(ibid, p. 19)

…the Christian idea of empire…the sacred foundation for history…(ibid, p. 20)

The two halves of the old Europe, before the modern era, had known essentially only one opponent that it had to confront in a life-or-death battle, namely, the Islamic world. (ibid, p. 22)

Believing Christians should…contribute to Europe’s recovery of the best of its heritiage and thus to the service of all mankind. (ibid, p. 34)

Dexter Wakefield, of the Living Church of God, made the following insightful comments about Cardinal Ratzinger’s writings in that book:

His analysis, of course, does not express the full meaning of this imagery. Yet in referring to the two iron legs of the Daniel 2 statue, the current pope shows that even the Roman Catholic Church has in the past recognized that the Roman Empire and its successor, the so-called “Holy Roman Empire,” are pictured in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. (Wakefield D. Will Islam Transform Europe? Tomorrow’s World magazine, November-December 2010, p. 17)

So, even the current pope realizes that the “Holy Roman Empire” is part of the image in Daniel 2 and that one leg/wing represents the Roman/Latin Catholic west with the other the Eastern/Greco/Byzantine east. Cardinal Ratzinger also seems to be teaching that the “Holy Roman Empire” is the last part of the image of Daniel 2 and that it is a good thing.

Yet, he seems not to realize that since in the end, God intentionally destroys the image by attacking the last part (striking the feet it stands upon in vs. 34), this indicates that God was not pleased with this image or its so-called “sacred foundation.” Since the Bible is clear that God will destroy the final formation of that empire (Daniel 2:40-44), the development of a unified “Catholic” Europe to fulfill this is not something that should be encouraged.

Furthermore, I have had my eye on Herman van Rompuy for some time as being supportive of such an empire. Herman Van Rompuy is Roman (as opposed to Eastern Orthodox) Catholic. And back in 2009 I suggested that he may fulfill a role in end time prophecy and perhaps raise taxes for the glory of the European empire (Daniel 11:20,, see also Herman Van Rompuy May Fulfill Daniel 11:20, But Did PCG’s Gerald Flurry Predict It?).

But even if Herman Van Rompuy is not specifically prophesied, the trend in Europe is to go for a stronger leader as well as for one that will work with the Vatican.

Ultimately, a major dictator (and I do not anticipate at this time that it will be Herman van Rompuy) will rise up (Revelation 17:12-13), the final King of the North, European Beast power of Bible prophecy.

And each time top Vatican and top European Union leaders meet, this suggests that they have mutual interests. Like a revived “Holy Roman Empire.”

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

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?
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe?
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Living 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. Português: Qual é fiel: A igreja católica romana ou a igreja viva do deus? Tambien Español: Cuál es fiel: ¿La iglesia católica romana o La Iglesia del Dios Viviente? Auch: Deutsch: Welches zuverlässig ist: Die Römisch-katholische Kirche oder die lebende Kirche von Gott?
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?
2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect This is a link related to a book by Bob Thiel (COGwriter). This also has YouTube videos related to 2012. The book contains documented prophecies as well as an end time sequence of events that Christians should study and understand. Including the prophesied roles of Europe and the Vatican.
2012 und das Auftreten der geheimen Sekte (German Edition) 2012 Buch von Dr. Thiel in deutscher Sprache.