Pope Working For More Ecumenical Unity with Lutherans

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI made a statement today that I would like to report and comment about. Here is the news item:

Pontiff Looks for More Fruits in Unity Dialogue

Catholics, Lutherans Mark a 10th Anniversary, Look to a 500th
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 16, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is expressing thankfulness for progress made in ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans, which he says has borne fruit particularly at the level of local communities.

The Pope said this today when he greeted representatives of the Lutheran World Federation on the occasion of their official visit to Rome. The delegation was led by the new president of the federation, Reverend Munib Younan.

“With gratitude we can take stock of the many significant fruits produced by these decades of bilateral discussions,” the Holy Father told them. http://www.zenit.org/article-31259?l=english

As far my commentary, notice that Pope Benedict XVI is still speaking with the Lutherans on unity issues. And while Americans may be surprised that the Vatican has been in discussions with specifically the Lutherans for so long, the reality is that in a sense it appears that the Vatican believes that they expect unity with the Lutherans.

Of course, since Martin Luther claimed that the pope was antichrist, one would think that the Lutherans would have no part in such discussions. But, now that politics and the world have changed, apparently they do not find popes so potentially offensive.

I believe that doctrinal compromise will take place, at least by the Lutherans in the future, as I am convinced that the bulk of the European Lutherans will ultimately support a leader from the Vatican.

Furthermore, it appears that other Catholic writings suggest that it is an antipope who is involved in the imposition of a changed ecumenical church, hence “Catholic” compromise is expected according to many of the following:

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)

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 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)

Thus many Catholic writers have indicated that a new type of “Catholicism” will be false to that religion. And that the religion will be seemingly Catholic.

All (Catholic, Lutheran, 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. Compromise must occur for ecumenical unity to occur. And most likely by more than one side.

Those who wish to learn why the ecumenical discussions are dangerous may wish to read the following articles:

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.
Sola Scriptura or Prima Luther? What Did Martin Luther Really Believe About the Bible? Though he is known for his public sola Scriptura teaching, did Martin Luther’s writings about the Bible suggest he felt that prima Luther was his ultimate authority? Statements from him changing and/or discounting 18 books of the Bible are included. Do you really want to know the truth?
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.